Who's the real child here?
by Madam Mimm
Summary: The Warner siblings are all grown up. But after a family row sees them going seperate ways, what will happen to the next generation of Warner?
1. Chapter 1

Ok, I know I already have an animaniacs fiction on the run, but I have a horrible habit of suddenly coming up with ideas and having to switch between two or three stories. Just prod me in a message if I'm forgetting the one you'd rather hear about! XD I know that there are going to be a few revelations in this story that some people may say are out of character or not what they want to see, but this is my view of what would happen to the Warners after they've grown up, and if you don't like it then thats fine, but try and take it as my interpretation, and not the gospel truth.

Chapter one

Dot grabbed the belt-loops on her faded denim jeans and hitched them up over the slight curve of her hips. _"Stupid hip-huggers..."_ She carefully folded the last of her shirts, and placed it in the beaten old leather suitcase, with the others. Her fingers trembled slightly as she smoothed the soft cotton, looking around her room for the last time. The posters on the wall. Lethal Weapon, Mission Impossible, some boyband who she never really liked but had stuck over the lilac walls to cover up where her brother had somehow managed to spill glow-in-the-dark paint. She crossed over to her wardrobe, and opened the door. Her reflection stared back at her, and so did a picture of her six-year-old self. She was older now, and taller, but there was still a sweet, naive... cuteness. She'd grown up to be quite an attractive young toon, but carried herself well and behaved like a lady.

_"Like a princess."_

Spending her childhood in a room in a tower, encountering strange beings and stranger directors. She chuckled to herself. She really had been a princess. She reasoned with herself that she still was, really. Just a different kind of princess.

"You sure you want to do this?"

Dot jumped as the voice cut through her thoughts. She spun round, looking at her brother. He stood in her doorway, looking more anxious than she'd ever seen him. She rolled her eyes and hugged him tight, familiar warmth comforting both of them.

"I've got to do this, Yakko."

"I know." he sighed, resting his chin on the top of her head. Of course, for every inch she'd grown, he'd grown too, so he was still about a foot taller than her and it looked like that was how they were both going to stay. Dot didn't mind, though. She looked up at him, in black slacks and a brown jersey. He was still as quick and witty as ever, and all time had done to him was give him a bigger vocabulary and more chances to use it. "I hate the thought of you leaving, sis."

"Oh, we've been through this." She sighed in frustration, closing the lid of her suitcase and putting it with two others. "I can't stay here, Yakko. I just can't. All my life I've been The Warner Sister. I want more than that. I want a name of my own. I want a life of my own. I love you and Wakko, but I want to go out and be my own person." She looked at him, exasperated, before picking up her bags and walking towards the door of the tower. "This is a once in a life-time opportunity. Scolarship to TAPA is something you don't turn down."

"I know!" Yakko called, running after her. He grabbed her shoulders and looked at her, smiling. "I'm just gonna miss you, thats all."

They smiled at each other, but were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Last train to Toon Town Academy of Performing Arts is about to leave the station." drifted through the door, in a noticably scouse accent. Dot laughed, and pulled open the door, to hug Wakko, who was leaning on the railing outside and grinning at her.

_"We're all so grown up."_ She thought, looking on as her brothers carried her suitcases down to the car. Yakko, twenty-three years old, was now composing and writing songs for the studio, plus making a tidy salary on the side from writing children's books... Wakko, twenty years old, was making a name for himself in the live entertainment circuit, and was unofficially living with his girlfriend of two years, a cat-toon called Tellulah. And even she, Dot, the youngest at eighteen years old, was now on her way to the Toon Town Academy for Performing Arts, one of the most prestigious universities in Toon Town when it came to specialising in performance. She was finally going to step out of her brothers' shadows.

The car ride was as fun as they always were, with arguments over the music and which way they were going. the entrance into Toon Town was, by nature, hectic, as toons came both ways on both sides of the road and, sometimes, the cieling. But it wasn't until they arrived at the gates of TAPA that the Warner siblings realised that, from this moment on, they would have parted ways. As Dot stepped out of the car, she felt a little weak at the knees. She looked at the majestic building. It was every bit like a medieval castle, but with modern additions like a swimming pool and satellite dishes. She gasped.

"Hey princess!" Wakko grinned from behind the trunk of the car. "Don't forget your luggage."

She smiled as she walked to the back of the car, but Yakko grabbed er by the shoulders again, and grinned at her.

"Now, sister sibling." He smiled cheekily. "There are a few things I want you to know. First, although this is a great honour, it is a great danger. There will be many things at this place which will tempt you. But I know I raised a princess, not a swine."

"Yakko..." Dot blushed, noticing some students were milling around the grounds. They were also looking and pointing. This was not the kind of impression she wanted to make. "Quit it. You sound like you're my dad or something. Look, I promise i'll be on best behaviour. No experimenting with anything."

"Good. You had better mean that." He sniffed, handing her her suitcases. "And watch out for the guys. They only have one thing on their minds."

"Believe us." Wakko chuckled, putting his hand on her shoulder. "We know from personal experience."

"You mean you have minds?" She smiled in mock surprize, but Yakko shook his head.

"No, i'm serious. A girl like you..."

"Oh stop it, Yakko."

"I'm just saying. If you get in any trouble or you need us for anything, we can be right over here, and..."

"No!" She gasped, backing away from her brothers and dropping her cases on the sidewalk. "No, absolutely not. Look, guys, please... Just promise you won't turn up here, you won't create a scene... I dont need you guys reminding people that i'm the sweet little Warner Sister when thats exactly what i'm breaking away from. Please, let me handle this my way. If I call you, and I ask you to come, you can consider yourselves invited. but I need to do this on my own. Please?"

She looked up at the two of them with large, honest eyes. The Warner Brothers might have thought of protesting, but they bit back any comments and nodded.

"We'll miss you, kiddo." Yakko mumbled, pulling her into a hug again.

"Yeah. Don't forget to write. Or call. Tellulah said she wanted all the dirt on the stars of tomorrow." Wakko grinned, lookin a little sheepish but hugging her none the less.

Dot smiled at her brothers, andsaid goodbye one last time, before taking a deep breath and walking through the gates of TAPA.

_"This is my realm now. New dragons, new knights... and a new princess."_


	2. All Fall Down

Chapter two

Wakko grinned as he looked at himself in the mirror, admiring the newly jumpered reflection. Like his siblings, he had, over time, lost the look he coined on their show. He himself had grown fond of a shirt (although, still blue) a black leather jacket and jeans. But now, he was wearing a very cosy, fleecy zip up hoody, which was a vibrant blue with a red hood. He grinned once more, and spun round to see the grey shorthair cat toon with long, dark curls of hair looking at him with anxious blue eyes.

"You like it?" She smiled, a slight southern accent to her wavering voice.

"I love it, Lu." He smiled, wrapping his arms round her and kissing her.

"Oh, good." She smiled, looking relieved. "I thought it might be a little too odd-looking..."

"Hi, have we met?" Wakko smiled, looking at her in bafflement. "It's me. I Like odd. I love odd. I am odd!"

"Yes, but you're not odd-looking." Tellulah smiled and kissed him again, this time for a little longer. "So, tell me." She walked away to the sofa, and patted the seat beside her. "Have you had a good birthday?"

"Well..." Wakko mused, falling into the seat and wrapping his arm around her. "You're here with me, we are very much in love..." He kissed her again, and she giggled, her long grey tail flicking playfully. "I got a phone call from Dot earlier, wishing me happy twenty-first, don't get too drunk, your gift's in the mail and by the way I'm fitting in fine. I think she was between classes 'cos she seemed in a hurry." He explained, grinning widely. "So all in all, yes. I think this has been a very wonderful birthday."

"What about Yakko? What did he get you?"

"Oh... umm..." Wakko broke Telullah's eye contact, scratching his neck awkwardly. "Well..."

"Didn't he get you anything?" Telullah sounded shocked. Wakko, however, hadn't been shocked in the slightest to discover his brother had forgotten his birthday. It wasn't the sort of thing he'd usually do, but since Dot left, and his publisher rejected his last few manuscripts... not to mention the musical director being less than pleased with his last few recording sessions... Yakko hadn't been his usual self.

"Well." Sniffed Telullah, glaring at the door as if expecting Yakko to walk in at any moment. "I think that's downright rude. I've got a good mind to-"

"No, Lu, please." Wakko grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her back down next to him, his eyes full of concern. "Look, you and him make up two thirds of the most important people in my life. Now you get on just fine with Dot so there's no problem there, but if you and Yakko can't get on then it would present me with a problem."

"I know sweetie, but for him to forget your birthday?"

"Look, he's had a bad couple of weeks." Wakko lowered his voice, shooting glances at the back of the door in case Yakko chose that moment to walk in. "You've seen him since Dot left. Anyone can tell, he's been having a few problems."

"Hmm..." Telullah softened a little, but soon shook herself out of it. "Even so, you're his brother and if he can't remember something as simple as your birthday, I wonder if he cares about anyone but himself."

"Don't say that!" Wakko looked at her, offended. "All my childhood, Yakko was there looking after me and Dot. He was the one raising us, teaching us what we needed to know and taking charge. I think, after giving up most of his childhood to look after us, he's allowed to forget a few birthdays, don't you?"

Telullah looked at Wakko with her large blue eyes, shocked at this outburst. After what seemed like a long silence, she bowed her head.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"Forget it." Wakko cleared his throat and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, a little shocked himself. "It's been a tough week for all of us, really. Especially after that mess at TAPA..."

Wakko sighed as he remembered the events of the past week. Last Sunday, to be precise. Yakko and Wakko had decided that after two weeks of not hearing anything from their sister, they would go and check in on her, just briefly, to make sure she had everything sorted out. They had wandered over to the reception desk, taking in the very grand hall, with high ceilings and tall windows, and walls covered in expensive-looking oil paintings. This is where legends such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Mufasa were said to have gained acting degrees. Disney wasn't usually Wakko's thing, but even he was a little upset when he'd seen the "father don't leave me" scene for the first time.

It certainly seemed like a particularly fancy drama school. The students who read lines in the hall were just that little bit more convincing. The ones who practiced dance steps on the lawn outside were just that little bit more disciplined. And the receptionist in the office was just that little bit more condescending.

"Can I help you?" Drawled the voice from a rather plump, rather old, grey haired and horse-faced lady. She was, of course, a toon, but there was nothing funny about her.

"Uhhh, we're here to see Dot Warner?" Yakko smiled at her. But for all the good it did, he could have thrown a pie in her face.

"Wait here." She barked before getting up from her wheeled office chair and shuffling slowly across the office. Yakko grimaced and turned to Wakko.

"There was a panty shot I did not want to see."

"Eew, what were you looking there for?"

"Sue me, its a force of habit." Yakko grinned and winked roguishly at his brother. "Besides, with a surface area that big its hard to miss."

"Thanks for that nightmare fodder..." Wakko muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"Hey... Hey guys! Yakko! Wakko!" They heard a familiar voice yelling at them from across the echoey hall, and looked up to see a pink bunny in a yellow "TAPA" jersey running towards them.

"Babs!" They grinned, as both of them were hugged by their old acquaintance.

"How's things?" Yakko grinned, looking her up and down. Taller, older but just as smiley as she ever was on her show, Babs was a sight for sore eyes.

"Oh, same old." She smiled, shrugging her shoulders. "Working for a degree, trying to keep up with the workload and still have a social life."

"You and Buster still together?" Wakko grinned. Babs seemed so much more mature now, so much more intellectual than the bumbling pink rabbit from Tiny Toons.

"Yeah." Yakko grinned. "Last I heard you two were at it like-"

"If you finish that sentence, I will tie your ears in a knot." Babs scowled, the flash of seriousness in her eyes for a second, before melting into laughter at Yakko's stunned expression. Then again, Wakko mused, perhaps not.

"Buster and I have been... on again, off again for a while." Babs shrugged, looking a little sheepish. There was a tense silence while everyone tried to think of a way to get around this obviously quite tender subject. "So what are you two doing here?" Babs smiled, after what felt like way too long.

"Just visiting our dear sister sibling." Yakko grinned.

"Oh! I haven't seen Dot much, but she seems to be settling in just fine."

"Hey Babs!" A rather snotty sounding dog toon ran up to Babs, eager to get her attention. "I just found out that... Oh my goodness!" He sniffed, looking at Yakko and Wakko. "You're... you're the Warner Brothers! Oh, I loved your show when I was a kid! I'm Sidney, and... Hey, guys!" He yelled over to a group in the corner, who all looked rather amused. "Guys, the Warner Brothers are here!"

"Um, yeah, Hi... Sidney, was it?" Yakko smiled, but it was only just big enough to hide the look of total disgust.

"Look, Sidney." Wakko cut in, before his brother's mouth could get them into trouble. "We don't want any fuss, we're just here to see our sister."

"Your sister?" Sidney sniffed, as the group of people approached. "Oh my goodness! Dot is _the_ Dot Warner? We thought it was just coincidence! Man, I've been acting alongside the Warner Sister for two whole weeks!"

Wakko grimaced. Maybe he should have let Yakko talk.

"Hey, can you still sing the songs from your show?" Someone yelled out in the crowd.

"Yeah, do the geography one!"

"No, Variety Speak was my favourite!"

Wakko looked at Yakko, who shrugged.

"Can't let the public down, Wakk. Besides, what harm could it do?"

As it turns out, it did a lot of harm. Wakko, who had opted to sit out and chat with Babs, had seen Dot enter the main hall, looking very confused as groups of students crowded round Yakko for his famous geography song, "The Nations of the World". Just as he reached Burundi, Dot spotted him. Her look changed from confusion to surprise and then to anger, which only deepened when Sidney saw her and yelled out

"Hey guys, it's the Warner Sister!"

Yakko had stopped dead and looked at her as she glowered, her gaze coated in venom. Wakko had never seen her this mad, and wanted to be anywhere other than where he was, but all the same he followed her when she gestured for both of them to go outside with her. No sooner had they left the hall and the door closed behind them before she began to speak.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed, looking angrily from one to the other. "I made you swear you wouldn't come unless I invited you. I'm getting along fine and then here you two buffoons come storming in and ruin what I had. Now, thanks to you idiots, everyone knows that I was the Warner Sister."

"Hey, there's no need to get insulting." Yakko had fired back, but Wakko was quick to step in in an attempt to defuse the situation.

"Look, we just came to wish you well, was all. Make sure you weren't missing anything." Wakko looked at her steadily, and she seemed to calm a little. "Now, we didn't know it'd bother you this much. I'm sorry. We'll just go, now." He smiled, and stepped back. he was about to turn and go, when Yakko piped up.

"No, hold on, Wakk." Yakko growled, glaring at his sister. She returned the look with just as much force. "Sis, we were doing a good thing. You can't just expect us not to worry. You can't be angry at us for worrying."

"Well I am." She hissed. "I don't want to be the Warner Sister any more. I want to be Dot, who can be independent of her lug head brothers."

"Well, I don't know who you think you are but the Warner Sister never acted like this, you stuck up brat." Yakko spat, glaring at her.

"I'm not stuck up." Dot retaliated, a little hurt by this remark. "I just assumed my brothers would be able to keep such a simple promise."

"Not stuck up? Hah!" Yakko laughed. "This from "princess angelina bolbesca"? You never were a princess, you never will be. Reality check time, sis. I can put up with almost anything from my siblings. Heck, over the years I have. And I've accepted it, and accepted you because that's what we were. Siblings. But if you don't want to be the Warner Sister, then I guess I don't have to put up with your egotistical ranting. I can treat you like I would any other snob who's too self obsessed to care about anyone else. So thank you, sis. Thanks a bundle."

Wakko raised his eyebrows. Everyone knew Yakko could be scathing at times, but he'd never been outright rude. Especially not to him or Dot. She seemed genuinely hurt as she sniffed back tears, turning her back on Yakko, who was still fuming.

"You know what, fine." She muttered, tears choking her voice. "But we both know who's acting childishly here. I know what this is. You're looking for an excuse to yell at me, to punish me. To make me seem like the little kid you still want me to be." A note of anger crept into her voice, and it grew steadily, until she was almost shouting. "But i'm not a kid, Yakko. I'm not a little girl. I don't need my brothers looking out for me. And if you're behaving like this, then maybe I don't want you looking out for me either."

And with that, Dot had gone back to the hall of TAPA, probably to find Babs, and Yakko had returned to the car. The drive home had been silent.

Wakko pulled out of his reverie by Telullah stroking his cheek.

"Honey?"

"Oh... sorry... flashback." He grinned, shaking his head.

"I was saying, are you staying here again tonight or are you coming back to mine?"

"I think I'd better stay here." He sighed, running his hands through his hair. "I don't want to leave Yakko on his own right now. He doesn't want to show it, but I know he's upset."

"You're a sweetheart." Tellulah whispered, nuzzling his red nose with her own petite pink one. "It's a shame though. I was hoping on giving you your other... present."

"But you already gave me..." Wakko trailed off as he caught the meaningful look Telullah was giving him. He broke into a smile and wiggled his eyebrows, yapping playfully. Telullah giggled again, and kissed him, but stood up and walked towards the door.

"I should probably get home, then."

"Alright..." Wakko sighed exaggeratedly, pouting. "I suppose I'll just have to wait for that present. Come on, I'll walk you to your car."

They left the tower, descended the ladder and walked across the lot to Telullah's car, which was parked by the gates.

She and Wakko kissed each other goodbye, and Wakko turned and left, just as Yakko entered the lot. Telullah noticed he wasn't completely sober.

"Hi Lu." He smiled, leaning on the hood of her car.

"Hi." She smiled, but didn't make eye contact.

"You heading home?"

"Yeah, it's getting late."

"I'll say. You know there's something I don't get, what's a cheeky little kitten like you doing with a goober like my little brother?"

"I care about him. I love him. Which is more than I can say for some." Telullah muttered the last part, causing Yakko's drooping ears to drag themselves up.

"Beg pardon? Could you mumble your accusations a little louder?"

"Its just you forgot his birthday, Yakko."

"Did I? Dang, I knew there was something..."

"Your brother is one of the sweetest, most kind-natured people I've ever seen. But if you ask me, you're going to have to come up with something special to win back his trust."

"So I'll get him movie tickets or something. Why do you care?" He walked closer to her, and Telullah had to stop herself from gagging at the smell of alcohol he brought with him. "You don't honestly like him, do you?"

"I love him." She glared at him, her eyes shining like shards of ice.

"Pfft." Yakko rolled his eyes, leaning on the car next to her. "Let me tell you something. Love doesn't last. All that happy ever after stuff might sell for Disney, but in the real world, there's no such thing. Take, for example, my dear old parents who, one day, without so much as a by-your-leave dropped me and my sibs outside a care home in toon town. Were we told why? No. But just one day before, we had been labouring under the impression that parents loved their kids. Ours sure didn't." He looked at her, but his eyes swam blearily. Telullah's scowl changed in to a look of shock. How drunk was he?

"And that's not all!" Yakko continued, his voice getting louder. "No, nonono... My sister, whom I raised and cared for, and loved so very deeply. My sister told me not one week ago that she hated me and that she did not want to be my sister any more. I loved my job, but i'm now in fear of losing that, and if there's anything else that I love, its probably destined for the same miserable future. So... What was my point?"

"I don't know, Yakko, but I think you should get back to the Water Tower..."

"Aha! Yes, thank you!" Yakko waved a finger in the air, his voice still getting louder. Telullah looked around hurriedly, hoping no one would see them together. Not when he was in this state. She tried to hush him, but Yakko carried on anyway. "My home, which I have lived in for many many years now, may not remain mine for much longer. If I can't compose for the studio, i'm, not making them money and if i'm not making them money then they don't want to know. There is no love in this world, everyone just takes what they want and don't care about what comes next or who they have to tread on." Yakko turned and stamped his foot, but slipped on the curb of the sidewalk, and fell over. Telullah gasped, and hurried to help him up, trying not to breathe in too much.

She threw his arm over her shoulder and tried to help him up, but Yakko had other plans. He gripped her shoulder and looked at her.

"Kiss it better, sweetie?"

"Yakko... get off..." Telullah flapped at his hands, but was worried. His grip just got tighter and the more she pulled away the more he tried to grab.

"Come on... If you like Wakko, I'll be ten times better, he's just a chip off the ol' block..."

"Yakko for god's sake, let me go!"

"Telullah, sweetie..."

"Yakko please..." Telullah began to sob, her eyes wide with fear as he grabbed her other wrist and pulled her towards him. She couldn't see a way out of it, she was scared blind...

"Hey, get off her!"

Telullah spun round, and saw a familiar face as she was pulled away from Yakko's grasp. She stood behind Wakko, her hands trembling a little, still in shock. Wakko didn't have his customary grin. His eyes were dark, and his shoulders shook with rage. Yakko looked down on his brother, blearily.

"Ah come on, we were just having a little fun..."

"Fun? Fun? Are you out of your head or something?" Wakko fumed, advancing towards his brother and glaring hard into his eyes. "How could you even think about doing that? Doing it to anyone, let alone your brother's girlfriend."

Yakko tried to return the glare, but looked down at the floor, and put his face in his hands.

"I don't feel too good..."

"I don't care!" Wakko shoved his brother's shoulder, forcing him to look up. "You should feel like the jerk that you are! I've been cutting you slack lately, but there is a difference between being a flake and being an emotional wreck, Yakko. I don't know what's going through your head to make you act like this, but I don't think I can handle it."

Yakko looked at him, his eyes still slipping in and out of focus.

"What... what are you saying?"

"Man, I've been looking out for you, looking after you and fixing your mistakes for weeks now. You need to sort your head out and I can't help with that. Maybe I could have, but after what I've just seen..." Wakko looked at his brother for a second, a terrible silence as a million different phrases and emotions raced through his mind. After a while, he sighed, and looked away. He spoke quietly, but clearly. "I don't know you any more, Yakko. I don't think you know, either. I'm staying with 'Lullah tonight. Maybe for the rest of the week, maybe forever. Give me a call when you get sorted out, yeah?"

Wakko pushed past him and leapt into the drivers seat of Telullah's car. She gladly walked over to the passenger door, on the other side of the car from Yakko. Yakko stood, staring blankly. He didn't yell, he didn't even put up a fight. He just stared, an immense sadness in his eyes as Wakko and Telullah drove away. Out of the Lot, out of the street, and out of his life. He stumbled blindly back to the tower, and shut the door behind him. He made it half-way across the living room when angry tears began to roll down his cheeks. He leant against the wall and slipped down to the floor, covering his face with his hands. What had happened to him? Going out, getting drunk, picking fights... And Telullah... Unable to hold it in any more, he sobbed, his body shaking as tears gushed across his cheeks. The clocks ticked over to midnight and Yakko remained, sat against the wall, crying until he couldn't cry any more. He dragged himself up to his feet, gazing around the silent tower. Empty. His eye fell on the yellow plastic phone sat on the kitchen counter. His breath came unevenly, still forming sobbing sounds, as he dialled the only number he could think of.

The ringing buzzed in his ear, until it passed over to voicemail. Taking a deep breath, he tried to steady his voice a little.

"Hey, it's me... Yakko. Look, I know it's late, but I'm... I'm kind of messed up right now. I just need someone... I don't know, someone to talk to. Call me back when you get this message. Thanks..." He was about to hang up, when he heard a voice on the other end of the line.

"Yakko? What's up?"

"Babs... Hi..."

"Yakko, come on. You called me in the middle of the night, I was asleep. I just woke up, but you sounded awful. What's wrong?"

Yakko licked his lips, trying to work out how to tell her that he'd ruined his entire life.

"I... It's gone. It's all gone, Babs. I had everything I could ever want, you know? And my own stupid pride made me lose it all." with his free hand, he pressed the heel of his palm into his eyes, worried that there were more tears coming.

"What do you mean?"

"I've been in trouble at work lately. More than I was letting on to Wakko and Dot. I don't think i've actually been paid for a song in the last two months. Money's been a bit of a problem for me... And they hate me Babs. They actually hate me!"

"Who? Wait, Wakko and Dot?" Babs' voice was utterly sympathetic. He heard her walking around as she talked, background noise of Toon Town being filtered out as she closed windows. "Oh Yakko, they'd never hate you."

"They do! And I deserve it." He bit his lip, feeling an icy fear grip his heart. It was like it was squeezing all the blood out, and with it making him confess to all the things he'd done.

"Yakko-"

"No, I do! I was so afraid of losing them... All the stuff we had when we were kids, it was perfect. But they're grown up now. I... I was awful. I've actually been trying to make them stay with me, take away any other option. I..." His voice wavered as the familiar ache crept into his throat. He sniffed back tears. The end of the line was silent.

"Yakko." Babs spoke resolutely, taking control of him. "I want you to have a bath or a shower, or just wash your face. Do something to freshen yourself up. Then I want you to go to bed. You're tired and it won't help matters. I'll be over tomorrow morning and we can talk about it all face to face, alright?"

He managed to sniff an agreement, before putting on his brave face.

"Thanks Babs. You're awesome."

"I know." She joked, but her voice was still heavy with concern. "Now go on. Freshen up and get to bed, you hear?"

"Yes, ma'am." He smiled slightly as he put the phone down and turned off the living-room light. The Tower was silent again.


	3. The dish ran away with the spoon

Chapter three

Yakko had always relied on his words. When he was looking after his sibs, he'd told them stories to cheer them up. When he was bullied into a tight spot at the care home, he'd talked his way out of it, rather than throwing punches. On the show, he'd become pretty famous for his lengthy speeches. Even in the adult world, writing songs and stories meant his life was all about communicating. And anyone could tell that Dot and Wakko had picked up on these skills; The warners were known as a witty, intelligent family. But knowing what to say, and actually working up the guts to say it are two very different things. When pride is at stake, there's always a reason to avoid doing what you know you should do. A card or two, for various special occasions, are "forgotten" about, you "never get around" to making that phone call, sending that email... soon, things like birthday presents, graduation ceremony notices, wedding invitations, news of career changes, location changes, births... they all just begin to excuse themselves, until a life apart just becomes the norm. You stop telling stories, you try not to remember. Perhaps, after all that, the good old days that you'd never admit you long for... perhaps they were just a dream?

"Daaaad! Wake up!"

Wakko sighed and rolled over onto his back, pulling the covers up over his eyes.

"Gerrof..." He mumbled, reaching out of the duvet to swipe half-heartedly at the source of the voice. "I got jet-lag."

"You can't have jet-lag for two days!" The voice, high-pitched but friendly, with a slight cockney accent, giggled.

Wakko pulled the covers away from his face, and looked up. The bright light made him blink a few times, but eventually his eyes focused on a white face, surrounded by smooth black fur which stuck out in spikes at the sides, topped with two puppy-dog ears, which flopped forward in front of a pair of dark eyes. The face grinned cheekily, and pressed its pale red nose against Wakko's.

"Alright." He sighed playfully, lifting her down off the bed. "I'm up." He looked over at Tellulah, her sleek grey fur shining in the morning light. "Oh, so mum gets to sleep in, hm?"

Abbi looked up at him and grinned again, crossing her arms.

"Mum doesn't like USA breakfast day."

Wakko chuckled to himself, pushing back the dark blue quilts and standing up, before stretching, and scratching the white fur that had recently begun to grow further down his chin and neck. It gave him a sort of beardy look, and Tellulah had stated all it meant was he was officially a dad now, meaning beer bellies and bad dancing were soon to follow. Great. He walked across the laminate floor to get his black flannel dressing gown from the hanger on the back of the door. He looked back once more at Tellulah, who wriggled deeper into the pillows of the old-fashioned wooden double bed, then at the seven year old Abbi. The Warner genes were very prominent in her, although the white fur on her feet went a little higher up the leg than usual, and her tail was perhaps a little longer, but there was definately a family resemblance. If her hair was neater, she'd pobably look just like Dot, especially with that dusty pink skirt she had on... but then her personality was completely different. Abbi was really quite a tom-boy; she liked rough-housing and yelling and making a mess. She didn't care for personal grooming or boys... not yet anyway, but she was only seven... and she had a habit of wearing Wakko's old hoody. It was the blue one with the red hood, that Tellulah had given him for his twenty-first birthday. It had shrunk in the wash last year, and Abbi had claimed it, although it was still miles too big for her (the sleeves hung about an inch and a half over the ends of her fingers).

Abbi cocked her head to one side, watching her dad.

"Whatcha thinking?"

"Hmm?" Wakko shrugged. "Nothing. Come on, lets get started on USA breakfast day then."

Abbi cheered and giggled as she ran down the stairs, through the living room and into the kitchen, close followed by Wakko. It wasn't a very large house, but it was roomy, and large bay windows and open-plan rooms meant it had a very light, friendly feel. When Wakko reached the centre unit of the kitchen, Abbi had already clambered onto one of the tall stools and was hammering her tiny gloved hands on the table. USA breakfast day was a long-standing tradition between Wakko and Abbi. for the past eight years, he and Tellulah (and Abbi, since she came along) frequently went on holiday to England, to visit members of Tellulah's family and go sight-seeing. It was always fun, but the morning after they returned, Abbi and Wakko delighted in having a breakfast made from things that you just couldn't find in England. American-style waffles, pop-tarts and other sugary junk that was no part of any balanced diet were usually on the menu. Wakko winced as he saw Abbi pouring half a bottle of maple syrup on top of her waffles. This would mean three things. First, he would get in trouble with Tellulah for letting her eat too much sugar; second, he would also get in trouble for the mess they'd made of the clean white marble surfaces; and third, she would drive her teachers crazy at school today.

Over on the other side of town, the morning was off to a much quieter start. Yakko pulled the curtains back to reveal an amazing skyline view from his new penthouse apartment. He bit his lip, wondering if he'd made the right choice. It had been eight long years since he last set foot on California soil, and waking up in Toon Town was a little bit unsettling. Still, the longer he left it, the worse it would have been. He sucked air in through his teeth as he caught his reflection in one of the polished window panes. Pale grey circles had formed under his eyes, although with the year he'd been through it wasn't suprising. He knew there was more to come. He imagined the black fur sticking out around his cheeks and the tips of his ears turning grey, his face wrinkling up and his teeth falling out... Yuck. Still, he'd managed to maintain a fairly svelt figure, and had a near perfect bill of health. He knew he was probably exaggerating his appearance. No one else would even notice these subtle changes, but he couldn't help feel a little old. So this was the other side of the big three-oh.

His ears perked as he heard the quiet shuffle of footsteps on the thick, cream-coloured living room carpet. He grinned, and turned away from the skyline of Toon Town in the early morning, to see a tiny little girl running across the living room towards him. Yakko swept her up in her arms and hugged her tight.

"Morning sweety."

"Morning dad." Her voice was a high pitched, trembling whisper. Yakko looked at his daughter, who smiled but didn't quite meet his eye contact. She was obviously his daughter, the red nose, white face and feet and slender tail told you that much. But her ears were slightly bigger and floppier than his, sticking out at the sides. Plus, the fur around her cheeks was a lot fluffier than his. in fact, though her fur was mostly black (except the face) it was probably what set her apart from her father. The black fur of her forehead formed a tufty fringe over the white of her face, and the fur that stuck out from her cheeks was flecked with pink. When she smiled, she revealed slight buck teeth. All in all, she looked absolutely adorable, especially in her blue jeans and yellow tee-shirt with a pink flower painted on the front. But her big dark eyes were sad and nervous. Yakko sighed, hugging her again.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all this, Gabby."

"When will we see mummy?" The qustion was stammered, and although she was only six, Gabby knew it was an awkward question to ask.

"I... I don't know." Yakko sighed, looking out of the window again. "Whenever she phones up and organises it, I guess."

"Does she still...love-"

"Hey, hey, hey..." Yakko rocked her gently, patting her back. "Don't you even think that. Your mum and I both adore you. Look, this wasn't your fault okay? It's just..." How could he explain something to her that he didn't fully understand himself? He bit his lip, thinking carefully about the next words to leave his mouth. "Your mum and I decided that... we wanted different things, and as long as we were married, we couldn't both have those things. Then one of us would be unhappy. Maybe both of us. Look... We both still absolutely love you to pieces, and you don't let anyone ever tell you any different. Not even yourself." Yakko nodded resolutely, making his ears flap about. Gabby giggled a little, and hugged him again.

He set her down, and walked over to the large black piano which stood by the window, with the seats arranged around it. Luckily, the living room was large so it fitted in quite nicely. He lifted the lid, and sat down, running a finger across the keys. He wiggled his eyebrows at Gabby, who giggled again and hopped up next to him.

"One quick song before I run you to school." Yakko smiled, playing a few chords. "You don't want to be late on your first day."

Gabby nodded in agreement, as Yakko began to play lively jazz chords, occasionally nudging Gabby with his elbow. He started shooting silly faces at Gabby, who joined in with an improvised melody.

"That's good." Yakko grinned, watching her fingers. "Glad to see you've kept your practice up."

"I like piano..." She smiled. "What song do you want to play?"

"Well..." Yakko smiled, working his way up the keys. "You know, I read an article in the paper today about Disney's next movie."

"Oh..." Gabby felt this was one of her dad's jokes. There were a few of them she didn't get, but she always liked hearing them. She worshipped her father. He was tall, clever and always witty. Although she was always being told by her teachers that she was at least a year ahead of most children her age, Gabby was very shy, and doubted she would ever be as witty as her dad. Sure, she could think up clever lines, but she'd never say them out loud. She looked up at her dad, and smiled. He was clearly waiting for a response.

"Was it any good?"

"No idea, couldn't understand a word of it." Yakko grinned, easing off the keys.

"Why?" Gabby grinned, anticipating what would come next.

"Well..." he cleared his throat, and begin to play "Variety Speak".

_"In Hollywood they have a different language that they speak. _

_It's used by all the folks who went to school for just one week._

_It's found inside Variety, a magazine they use._

_And no one understands it when they read the movie news..."_

"Now..." He turned to Gabby, vamping the break between verses. "I'm gonna need you to join in on this, 'cos I just can't hit all those high notes this early in the morning."

Gabby giggled and nodded, and they sang the song together, Yakko playing mostly but Gabby would occasionally join in. Yakko smiled as he heard his daughter singing. She had a beautiful voice, and could cover almost two octaves. It was funny, he'd never intended to teach her singing or piano, much as he'd never intended to teach her the old Animaniacs songs. But he'd started to teach her one or two of the more educational ones to help with school, things like Multiplication and the States song. He'd played them to her, and she'd asked more and more about the piano until he'd ended up teaching her scales and arpeggios, how to read music and how to sing. He'd also ended up teaching her some of the sillier Animaniacs songs, to cheer her up after a bad day at school, or watching a sad movie... or after she'd been upset by her parents arguing. He inwardly cringed, remembering how much they'd argued over the past year. He'd tried to keep it as simple and polite as possible, but matters of love and divorce are never that simple. He remembered standing at the altar, declaring to the world that he, Yakko Warner, would take Barbara Ann Bunny for better or worse, "'til death do they part". All she'd taken him for was a ride down heartbreak lane. Luckily, since financial mess-ups had already threatened his happiness once, he'd learned to keep more of his money in savings; for the result of eight year's savings, the penthouse flat was pretty much a steal. He brought his attention back to the song. As with all the old songs, he knew them so well he didn't need to pay attention to the words or the chords. They were almost automatic. He grinned at Gabby, who was bobbing along in time to the music. The song finished with a flare, and they both laughed. Yakko closed the piano lid and checked his watch.

"Just in time, too." He grinned, grabbing his coat off of the monochrome leather sofa. "Check you've got your bag, books, shoes, coat, lunch... brain..." Gabby nodded at each word, before grabbing his hand. Yakko took his keys off the hook on the wall by the front door, standing aside to let Gabby out. "First day of a new school, kiddo. And I don't know about you, but... ehh I've got a good feeling about this."


	4. One, Two, Buckle my shoe

Thanks so much for the reviews. I wasn't sure this was going to go down well, but apparantly it has. While I do appreciate constructive criticism, I'm going to say this now, so maybe we ca avoid such comments in the future.

I am aware there was a seven or eight year time gap. I wrote it, and was fully in control of my mental capacities at the time. Or, as in control as I normally am; whether or not that's clinically sane is a different matter.

Please do not tell me there was a time gap, because I know. Try to trust me. An important factor in my stories is that everything happens for a reason. You will be able to tell the difference between a plot hole and an intentional gap or change in the story. Hopefully.

Now that's done, please keep reading and reviewing, I'm happy so many people like it!

Gabby squirmed in the seat that was designed for someone three times more grown up than she was. She peered around the front office, the only sounds being the muffled static of the secretary's radio, and distant shouts of kids as they enjoyed the last five, glorious minutes before school officially started for another year. So this was Acme Elementary. The Acme schools were supposedly the best for 'toons in all of America, starting with Acme Elementary, then moving on to Acme Middle and then Acme Looniversity. Looniversity was more of a performance school, but at elementary level it was more about helping kids with all the normal lessons like Maths and English, but also finding their own talent with basic cartoon skills, like spin changes and pie throwing. Of course, a lot of this was subjective. Kids could have a normal reading age but be excellent at pie throwing, so grade boundaries weren't a necessity. This was the way it was with most 'toon schools, with classes set on ability rather than age.

Gabby sighed, and smiled nervously at the skinny, angular secretary. The secretary sniffed and returned to slowly filling in forms. Gabby wasn't too upset. The woman looked like a walking ruler, except one hundred percent more likely to try and take your soul. Gabby bit back a giggle as she imagined the secretary in grim reaper-style robes, and wished she could tell her dad about it. He'd had to go to work, so couldn't stay and see the principal with her. This made Gabby a little nervous, but she took a deep breath and decided she was going to be brave. She knew the Principals of all Acme Schools were famous toons from the old Looney Toons series, so it stood to reason the principal would be kind and friendly, but she was still nervous. All the same, no one had told her who the principal was, and this made her feel uneasy. A harsh buzzing sound shocked Gabby back from her thoughts, as the secretary motioned to the door.

"The principal will see you now."

Trembling, Gabby stumbled down from the chair, and made her way over to the door. She pushed it open, into a large, square office with one wall covered in bookshelves, and the opposite one hidden by dark green curtains. The walls were a sort of creamy colour, and the carpet was green. Gabby decided to look at the carpet, but instead found herself staring up at the huge writing desk that took up most of the room. All she could see, from her rather low down vantage point, was a pair of grey ears, sticking up towards the ceiling. Gabby silently cursed herself for being so small, while wishing the ears belonged to who she thought they did. A lazy Brooklyn accent came from somewhere near the ears.

"Hop up in the chair, kiddo. Carrots may be good for your eyes, but they don't give you x-ray vision."

Gabby gasped happily as she clambered onto a chair, and was finally able to see a rather amused, but friendly looking rabbit, dressed in a white business suit which was open at the neck, and... well, she assumed he was wearing pants, but she couldn't see as his legs were hidden by the desk. But either way, it didn't matter, because she was currently standing on tiptoe, in Bugs Bunny's chair, in Bugs Bunny's office, and about to be officially enrolled in his school. She grinned even wider as he shot her a wink, before looking around behind her.

"No grown up with you?"

"No..." Why couldn't her dad be here? He loved Bugs' cartoons almost as much as she did. "Dad had to go to work. He wanted to stay, but his boss phoned him up and told him he had to go in." Gabby blushed, realising she'd said all that very quickly, and it had come out in a garbled mess. She fell silent again.

Bugs raised his eyebrows, but stayed smiling. The poor kid was shaking, she was so nervous. Obviously the quiet type, which was a surprise as he'd been told she was top of the class at performance skills in her last school... He shrugged, and started leafing through the papers on his desk.

"Probably for the best. Grown ups only get in the way." He shot a quick glance at Gabby, who was hiding a giggle behind her hand. Well, she had a sense of humour, at least. "What does your dad do?"

"Writes songs." Gabby blushed again, her shyness taking hold of the reins, after that brief excitement. She let her fringe flop forward in front of her face, and plunged her hands deep in her pockets, managing to make herself smaller than she usually was. "For movie people."

"Ah." Bugs nodded, separating the papers into three piles. "An important job. So, Kiddo, you got a name? Or should I just keep calling you Kiddo? Kiddo?"

"Gabby Warner."

The irony of her name wasn't lost on Bugs, but he decided not to point it out, instead concentrating on her surname. Why was it so familiar? It wasn't an uncommon name, but something about her, in particular, being called Warner... He shook his head, and picked up three of his sheets of paper.

"Well Gabby, I need you to give these to your dad when you get home." He handed her the papers, and she obediently folded them and tucked them into her strawberry coloured back-pack. "He needs to fill them out and send them back to me, just so the school has the details it needs about you. Now, these are yours..." He handed her two more sheets of paper, and stood up. "Ones a map of the school, the other's your timetable. Now, enough forms and pieces of paper..." Bugs shuddered, walking around the desk and helping Gabby down from the chair. Gabby smiled, but less in response to his face of disgust and more to the fact that she now knew he was wearing dark blue jeans. Bugs lead her out of his office and down the hall, through now quiet corridors.

"Now, I've been on the phone to your old teachers, making sure I can put you in the right class." Bugs shot a quick glance at the little girl again. She was looking around, trying to take in everything, clearly burning with questions she was too shy to ask. She looked up at him and blushed, looking at the floor again. "Seems to me..." Bugs continued, as if nothing had happened. "You're a year ahead of other kids your age in pretty much every subject." Gabby blushed furiously, her hands gripping the insides of her pockets.

"I'm normal in maths..." She said, sounding as though she needed to defend herself from these accusations.

"Hey kid, there's no shame in being smart." Bugs raised his eyebrows, as they came to a stop by one of the classroom doors. "Knowledge is one of the best things you can get yourself. But enough of me sounding like an after school special. Your first class is through there. Do you want me to walk you in?"

Gabby looked up at the door, half wanting Bugs to walk her in and find her a seat and tell everyone to be nice, and half wanting to turn and run away as fast as possible. Gabby bit her lip, and looked up at Bugs. He nodded, and pushed the door open.

A tall, lanky looking human toon was leaning against her desk, clearly the teacher. The class was completely silent, all eyes on Bugs. This told Gabby that three seconds before the principal had appeared in the doorway it had been in uproar. Bugs raised an eyebrow at the class, before turning to the teacher.

"Miss Burnstien. You have a new student, her name is Gabby Warner." He said, simply, before stepping aside to let her in.

Gabby, shocked and unsure, edged into the room, feeling the classes gaze rest on her, heavy and burning, before, as one, all eyes flicked back to Bugs.

"Good luck, kid." He smiled again, giving her the thumbs up and shutting the door. Gabby turned slowly to the teacher. the teacher gave her a non-committal glance, reached into one of the drawers on her desk and tookout a text-book, still in its cellophane wrapping.

"There's a free seat by the window at the back of the class, Gabby. Sit yourself down and if you have any questions, just put your hand up. Class, move on to page nine and this time work in silence means work in silence." The teacher shot an icy glare around the class, as Gabby retreated quickly to her seat on an empty table at the back of the room. Hard part over, she told herself.

But there was one pair of eyes that hadn't watched Bugs. This pair of eyes had stayed on Gabby, watching her every move. Abbi leant low over her text book, pulling the hood of her jacket so that it covered all of her face except her eyes. Junior, a bulldog toon who took great pride in telling everyone his great uncle was Spike from Tom and Jerry, nudged Abbi in the ribs.

"Abbi, you're supposed to be working."

"Quiet, meat-head, I am working." She hissed back, not taking her eyes off Gabby.

"No you're not." Junior hissed, nudging her again. "What are you doing?"

"I'm watching the new girl."

"Why?" Junior looked across the room to Gabby, who had already torn through the cellophane wrapping and was working her way dedicatedly through the text book from page one. "She looks boring. And she looks like a nerd."

"I watched a film the other night about clones." Muttered Abbi, resting her chin in her hands. "And I think that girl is my clone."

"Clones?" Junior echoed, looking across at Gabby again.

"Yeah. They made clones of people so that they could take their insides if something went wrong with the real person, except the clones didn't know they were clones but they found out and tried to take over the real people. I wasn't supposed to be watching it..." Abbi muttered, wincing as she remembered one of the nastier bits. She shouldn't have watched it at all, but she had wanted to prove she was old enough. Maybe she wasn't, since she'd had nightmares for three days. Abbi shook her head, and returned to glaring at the new girl. The class members never really saw Abbi without her hood up, so they didn't know that she had similar floppy ears, and a similar white face surrounded by black fur. Abbi was convinced. This girl looked like her and even had an almost-exactly-the-same name as her. Looking up at Miss Burnstein, Abbi saw that she had already returned to a thick novel with a picture of some woman looking out of a window on the front. She had already figured that Miss Burnstien wasn't supposed to be reading it, since she hid it every time another teacher entered the room. But she also knew the teacher couldn't take her nose out of it, so Abbi stood carefully and began to edge towards the new girl's table. No one noticed, except Junior.

"What are you doing now?" He whispered loudly. Abbi flapped her hands and shushed him.

"I'm going to talk to her."

"Why?"

"Because if I sit next to you too long I might catch stupid disease." Abbi hissed, sticking her tongue out. "Now shut up, meat-head."

"Fuzz-face." He retorted, crossing his arms and leaning back on his chair, pouting. Abbi rolled her eyes, and walked across to Abbi's table. She didn't like Junior, but he kept hanging around her because... well she wasn't sure why. But Abbi didn't have many friends, so she'd just let him stay with her. All the children in the class were reaching a tricky age when they began to notice differences and similarities between each other. There were loads of rabbit and duck toons, quite a few pig ones and human ones too, but not many dog toons and certainly none like Abbi. She'd asked her dad why there was no one like her in the school and he'd just said she was "one of a kind". Miss Burnstien said it was because she was inkblot style, a breed of toon which mostly died out after the 50s. As Abbi approached the new girl, she could see definite similarities. There was no doubt about it, whatever Abbi was, the new girl was the same.

"What's your name?" Abbi shot suddenly as she sat down, making the girl jump.

"G... Gabby..." She stammered, looking at the new arrival. She couldn't see much of teh face behind the hood, but guessed it was a girl because she was wearing a skirt. "What's yours?"

"Abbi." The girl stated, looking her up and down. A slender black tail flicked behind her as she watched Gabby carefully. Gabby smiled nervously, and flicked her own tail back. After a brief silence, Abbi spoke up.

"How old are you?"

"Six." Gabby gave the girl another nervous smile. "I was put forward a year."

"Hum." Abbi replied, itching her nose. Gabby could just make out it was a round, shiny, red one, like hers but a little paler. "S'pose thats ok then." Abbi shrugged, shooting a quick glance around the room. "You can't be my clone, because you're smarter than me." Abbi nodded, seemingly satisfied with this answer.

"What?" Gabby didn't understand. "I'm not a clone... at least, I don't think I am..."

"No, you're not..." Abbi looked at her again, sounding a lot happier. "You look different close up. Fluffier. And I don't have teeth like that or pink bits in my fur."

Gabby raised her eyebrows, confused. What was this girl talking about. She was saved asking though, as Abbi shot a surrepticious glance round the classroom again, and lowered the red hood of her jacket. Gabby gasped as an almost mirror image of herself stared back at her. Yes the fur was different, Abbi's stuck out more and Gabby's had pink flecks; Perhaps their ears and tails were slightly different, and Gabby was a few inches smaller, but to someone standing far enough away, they'd look pretty much identical.

"Creepy..." Gabby muttered, as they both extended gloved hands towards each other.

"Something's going on." Abbi whispered, conspiratorially, leaning in towards Gabby. Gabby leaned in too, intrigued by Abbi's talk of plots. "And now you're here, its absolute proof."

"What is?"

"You'll see at break." Abbi nodded, giving her a knowing look as she raised her hood again. "There's someone you've got to meet."


	5. Momma's Boy

As the bell went, Abbi dragged her new friend over to a lonely corner of the playground. The playground was large, with a big rectangle of concrete leading out from the school doors and a grassy field with swings and a climbing frame, a couple of sports courts or pitches, plus a few other things for the kids to play on. It was all brightly painted, and looked like lots of fun... But, as Gabby hurried away from all this, trying to keep up with Abbi, she saw they were headed to an area nearer to a wire mesh fence. There were loads of younger kids here, about four or five years old, all sat on the ground playing with toys and amusing themselves. Abbi held a finger to her lips, motioning for Gabby to be quiet.

"Where are we going?" She whispered, looking around at the non-plussed kids.

"To the Kindergarten. Like I said, there's someone I want you to meet." Abbi grabbed her wrist again, and Gabby grudgingly followed. Who would she want to see in the Kindergarten? The teacher? The kids sure didn't look that interesting... Abbi montioned to a window, resting her hands on the window ledge and peeking through the thick glass. Gabby poked her nose above the ledge, having to stand on tiptoe. There, inside the classroom, was a toon she presumed was the kindergarten teacher. The woman looked half-horse, half-human, with dark skin, a big smile and long, black hair... or was it mane? Either way, Abbi wasn't looking at the horsey-woman. She was looking at the little boy, sat in front of her, on a small green stool. Gabby gasped. This day just kept getting weirder. The little boy turned to look at them, grinned when he saw Abbi, pointed out of the window and the teacher nodded. The boy ran out of the classroom. Abbi gestured away from the window, and turned around as the little kid pushed the kindergarten doors open. Gabby just looked from one to the other. The boy was small, about a foot smaller than her, and wore mucky brown pants with a long, brown overcoat. From underneath the bottoms of his trousers poked two large, white feet, and behind him, a long black tail flicked back and forth. The sleeves of his coat stretched way past his fingertips, but Gabby was sure he had delicate gloved hands, just like her and Abbi. What clinched this certainty was his smooth, chalk-white face, his red button noe, and the black fur sticking out around his cheeks. He wore an old straw boater hat, with a red stripe around it and a big red stain on one side. Out of the top of his hat poked two puppy dog ears.

"Gabby Warner." Abbi grinned, puffing her chest out proudly. "This is Todd Strizlecki, a four year old progdidy."

"Prodigy." Gabby corrected, before biting her tongue. That was the way she'd lost friends at her old school. She waited for the snobbery, or names, but Abbi merely shrugged.

"Whatever. Todd is in first grade english, math and science, but in our class for all our Cartoon Skills lessons."

Todd nodded at this, smiling in a friendly way. He held his hand out to Gabby. Gabby, caught off guard by this, shook it, watching him carefully.

"Todd, Gabby's just moved here, she's really clever, she's a year younger than me but she knows way more stuff." Abbi grinned, pointing at Gabby's tail. "And look! She's another one, Todd, just like us!"

Todd grinned again, before putting a finger on his chin and pouting, as if he was thinkng very hard.

"Can't he speak?" Gabby looked at Abbi, confused. The boy hadn't made a sound since he'd come towards them, and now she thought of it, when they were watching through the window, he hadn't been speaking either.

"Oh he can." Abbi shrugged, before walking back towards the main playground. Todd grabbed Gabby's hand, and motioned for them to follow. "He just doesn't ever do it. Never has anything to say, I guess." Todd drew a hand across his lips, as if doing up a zip. "But he can make a deadly cream pie." Abbi nodded gravely, before crossing her legs and dropping down to sit on the floor. Todd and Gabby sat either side of her, leaning in close.

"So... what's going on?" Gabby asked, not wanting to sound stupid, but not sure how to ask the question that was burning away in her mind. "I mean... I've been to lots of schools, but I've never seen anyone who looks like me except my dad..."

"You know what I think?" Abbi cast a sly look, first to Gabby and then Todd. She leant in closer, loving to build up tension. She wasn't much for academics, but Abbi certainly knew how to give a performance, and always loved every minute of it. It wasn't that she was attention-seeking, exactly, just that she always had fun knowing she could make people feel differently by saying something or acting a certain way. "I think our parents are all in it together. I think that we were all royalty in a far off land where everyone looked like this, but when we were very young the evil prince took over and made the king and queen... that's our real mum and dad... send us far, far away where we wouldn't be a threat to him... except our real mum and dad were worried so they sent their most loyal guards to pose as our parents so we wouldn't be harmed, or worry about them. But now the guards won't take us back, because they know if they go back then we could get hurt and they could get executed for treason." She gave another grave nod, and Todd opened his mouth wide and looked from one girl to the other. Gabby gasped, too. She wasn't sure if she believed it, but it was a very good story, and Abbi certainly seemed to know what she was talking about.

"What if we ask our parent- I mean, the guards... tonight when we get home?"

"No! They won't tell us, silly." Abbi shook her head. "Because they'd be worried we might want to go back, and they were probably signed to secrecy when our real parents sent them to take care of us. On pain of death."

"Oh..." Gabby didnt really know what to say. Todd leapt to his feet, took off his straw hat and bowed royally, before walking around with his chin in the air and rolling his hand in a royal wave. Abbi laughed, and linked arms with him, joining in. Gabby still wasn't really sure if she believed the story, but it would make a fun game for now, she decided, as Abbi started hollering that she was going to be the queen, and Todd could pretend to be the evil prince, and that Gabby had better hurry up and choose who she wanted to be, or the revolution would be over and she would have missed out.

Meanwhile, overlooking the playground from the window of the teachers' lounge, Bugs watched as the three kids started running around, playing their make-believe games. He wrinkled his nose as he brought the mug of stewed coffee to his lips. Yeuch. Was it too much to ask for some fresh coffee, instead of this morning's left-over dregs? His gaze slipped back over to the three ink-blots. The three of them were so familiar. It was possibly the most annoying feeling ever, to recognise someone but not know where from. As he drained the sticky black residue of his coffee cup, he pulled a face at the bitter tang, and dumped the mug in the sink. Ah well, if it was important, he guessed the answer would come to him, in the end.

After more lessons, most of which were half writing in notebooks and half giggling with Abbi, Gabby was almost sad when the bell rang. As everyone started piling books into backpacks, Abbi looked at Gabby, grinning from underneath her big red hood.

"D'you walk home?"

"No, I have to wait here for my dad to pick me up."

"Aww, shame." Abbi sighed, throwing her ink-stained blue backpack over one shoulder. "I'd walk you home. Todd's probably already been picked up by his childminder, too."

"Oh..." She wanted to ask why he had a childminder, but she knew that would be rude, since she didn't really know him yet. So, instead, she linked arms with Abbi and they walked out of the classroom and towards the main doors.

"How come you walk home?" Gabby was a little amazed. Her dad had always told her she wasn't allowed to walk about on her own until she was older.

"I only live a little ways from school." Abbi shrugged. "Just 'round the corner, and up a little path. We know everyone between here and there, so mum and dad said it was safe. Well, I'll see you tomorrow, then, Gab." Abbi grinned, as she pushed open the front doors, and walked out onto the path. She waved to Gabby, who returned it, and kept waving until her new friend was out of sight. Then, she dropped down onto the stairs, and sat with her chin on her hands. What a day. Two new friends and she was already nearly caught up with the class. Plus, tomorrow they were going to have Toon Skills. Toon Skills was the lesson where they taught you how to throw pies and spin around, dig holes, paint tunnels, make things appear or disappear... it was always fun, but suprisingly disciplined, and usually nowhere near as chaotic as it sounded. But with Abbi and Todd in her class, Gabby wasn't so sure they wouldn't mess around just a little... She stopped thinking about that, though, as she saw her Dad's car pull up outside the school gates. He stepped out and waved at her, smiling as she ran over to him and opened the door, hopping in the passenger seat. She clambered up onto her booster seat, and smiled happily at him, wiggling her toes absent-mindedly. Yakko smiled back, climbing back into the car himself, and helping her with her seatbelt. He put his own seatbelt on, and started the car for the drive home.

"So... You look like you had a good first day." Yakko was pleased for his daughter. They'd moved twice before, and she often found it hard to make new friends. She was a lot smarter than most kids her age, and not exactly an extrovert. But it seemed that she'd hit it off right away, as she was already chattering away about her new friends.

"And Abbi introduced me to Todd. He's really funny but he never says anything; I don't know why, but Abbi said he can never think of anything worth saying which I suppose is fair enough. Oh, Daddy it's so much fun, and Abbi looks..."

Whoops. Gabby bit her lip, glancing up at her dad a little furtively. He was trying to negotiate two other cars though, so he didn't notice straight away. She tended to do this quite a bit, say nothing for ages, then say a lot of things all at once, and get herself either muddled up or in trouble. Dad said he and her mum had always been very chatty individuals, so that's probably where she got it from. Gabby didn't really care where she got it from, since she didn't want it anyway. Her dad was looking at her now, one eyebrow raised.

"Abbi's what?"

"Uhm... I can't remember..." She smiled, hoping he'd buy it. _Remember what Abbi said, don't tell them. After all, the story might be true... _"She's just... really funny, that's all."

"Oh." Yakko smiled, a little confused. Girls. No matter how old they were, they were perplexing specimens. He decided it was probably best not to ask, and kept driving.

Across town, Todd was pushing open the heavy white doors of the fairly large, Toon Town sub-urb villa he called home. He shot a wave to the childminder, Ms Leon. She was a chubby woman, with big, frizzy ginger hair, but perfectly nice, and usually walked him home from school. Ms Leon waved back, before pushing the green buggy and waddling down the street. The buggy held her baby, Erwin, who was 6 months old and very... vocal. And enjoyed grabbing anything within reach of his chubby little fists. Todd rubbed his nose, remembering not to cross the kid when he got older. Even at six months, Erwin had a mean right hook. And, Todd noted, with a name like "Erwin", he'd probably need one. Todd walked through the large hall, through the open-plan first floor, watching his reflection in the shiny parquet floor. He took off his backpack, and threw it on the green leather couch. The overall effect of the decor (lots of greens, browns, oranges and yellows) was "airy, yet earthy", as his parent's friends kept saying. Todd had no idea what this meant, but as long as the TV worked, he didn't care too much. He flicked on the set, before joining his backpack on the couch. As he flipped through the channels, trying to get to the cartoons, he heard the door slam, and froze. _So, who's this?_

"Snot! Serrrr-nottieee!" A shrill voice sing-songed through the house, coupled by thick chuckling. _Oh, wonderful. Pre-dinner theatre._ Todd's thoughts were interrupted, as his half-brother Max entered the room, flanked by his goons, each as thick as several short planks. "Snot!" Max guffawed, like he was the cleverest kid ever. Max was ten years old, and a jerk. Todd had been dealing with his horrible half-brother long enough, though, and knew that he couldn't be avoided or ignored. Just as Erwin would deal with his bullies with a right-hook, Todd dealt with his by the only way a diminutive four year old could. He made them laugh. Todd stood on the couch, and made a show of wiping his nose on his sleeve, before saluting with the same hand, consequently pulling a disgusted face and wiping the offending gunk off his head. He picked up his backpack, and stumbled off the couch, into a forward somersault. The goons sniggered, and Max smiled grudgingly as he realised Todd had kept his hat on throughout the maneouvre.

"Dork." Max glared at Todd, before throwing himself down on the couch and picking up the remote. Todd looked at him. He really was quite disgusting. He was a rather fat, frizzy-haired, ginger fox-toon, who almost always seemed to be cramming his mouth with some kind of junk food. His fur was dull and greasy, and the only past-times he had were playing computer games, watching tv and trying to make Todd's life miserable. It didn't work though, since most of the time, Todd was too clever. Todd climbed the stairs, pulling himself up by the banisters, leaving the obnoxious Max and his mindless goons. When he reached the top of the stairs, he looked along the light, airy corridor. The window at the end of the corridor was open, and bright sunlight flooded through. Also, with the fresh breeze, a lilting tune drifted down the corridor. Smiling, Todd walked down, past his room, past Max's room, past the spare room and the study... to his mum and dad's room. His mum and dad's room was white, with touches of light yellow here and there, and sat on the yellow bedspread was his mother, looking through sheets of paper and humming absent-mindedly to herself. Todd grinned, and gave a running jump onto the bed. His mother gasped, suprized by his sudden appearance.

"Todd! Gosh, is that the time already? Oh no." She rolled her eyes, and collapsed backwards onto the bed. Todd lay down next to her, his hat falling off on the pillow. "I wanted to pick you up from school today. I got home early and everything. I just got distracted. I'm sorry, kid." She sighed, and poked his nise with one delicately gloved finger. "Forgive me?"

In response, Todd broke into a grin and wrapped his arms round her, planting a clumsy kiss on her cheek. She laughed, and hugged him back, holding him as she sat up, so he ended up sitting on her lap.

"So, did my little genious have fun at school?"

Todd nodded, still hugging his mum. He buried his nose in the folds of the black t-shirt she wore, not looking at her. _Yes, thanks mum, my day was fine. Except, of course, the bit where your "little genious" got pushed over in the lunch queue, and the one billionth remark about a four year old in second grade_.

"Todd? Sweetie?" Her slender arms wrapped around him, her hands lifting him up so he had to look at her. Todd didn't even try to make eye contact. It was another day when he was picked on by the older kids for being smart. And the worst thing was, he didn't even get why they were picking on him. He sniffed, wrinkling his nose as the familiar prickly heat grew around his eyes. He let a few tears run down his nose as his mum held him tight again.

"Oh, Todd, my love... I know what it's like being the youngest. It stinks, doesn't it? Having no one your age around, and you don't understand why all the bigger kids treat you like you're different."

Todd nodded. He sniffed again, fiddling with his fingers.

"Don't worry, Todd. I promise, it'll be alright. You have friends, don't you?"

Todd nodded, before holding up two fingers, sheepishly.

"Two?" His mother smiled. "The first eighteen years of my life, I only ever wanted to count on two people."

Todd smiled. Well, that didn't sound so bad. And he wouldn't mind being friends with Abbi and Gabby for eighteen years. That was a long time. He smiledat his mum, hugging her again, and hopping off the bed, just as a tall and skinny but muscular fox-toon walked into the room. He had dark fur, a sort of umber colour, and grinned as he saw Todd.

"Todd, my boy!" He smiled, kneeling down so he was on Todd's level. "Why don't you go take off this mucky old coat, hmm? It could do with a wash."

Todd shook his head, hugging himself, and pouting. He would not give up his coat without a fight. He took his hat from the pillow, plonked it back over his puppy-dog ears, and walked defiantly out of the room, sticking his tongue out at his father.

"Charming..." The fox muttered, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, leave him, Graham. He likes his coat, let him wear it." Dot sighed, standing up and walking to her full-length mirror. She took in her appearance, from the black t-shirt and dusty blue capri pants to her white face, and her black puppy ears. She smiled, running her fingers through her fur. It didn't stick out at the sides any more, but sort of pointed back, giving her a much more mature look. She would be twenty seven in a few months time. Twenty seven, and already a university degree, the beginnings of a fairly successful theatre career, a husband, a step-son and a child of her own. She smiled, catchign Graham's eye from the reflection of the mirror. "If anything, it's your fault for letting him watch all those Marx Brothers films."

"oh, is that a fact?" Graham smiled, walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her. "So have you read the script?"

"Not all the way through, no."

"Well, what do you think of it so far?"

"It's good." She rested her head on his arm, looking at him in the mirror. He was six years older than her, and had spent mot of his life writing. She'd often thought he and Yakko would have gotten on very well... not that she'd ever be able to introduce them.

"Just good?"

"Well, so far. I've not gotten to the exciting bit yet."

"Ah." He smiled, hugging her, and kissing her cheek. "Well, I suppose I'll leave you to it." He let go of her, walking towards the door.

"Wait, what?" Dot pouted, hands on hips. "You're going out?" Graham looked at her, and rolled his eyes.

"Yes, dear, you can still do the cute thing, no need to pout at me."

"Graham."

"Look, I told you this last night. I've got to meet with agents and publishers and Who Knows how many other people. Turning a stage play into a film involves lots of copyright negotiations. The film industry is a tricky business-"

"I know that!" Dot snapped, walking past him. "Remember who you're talking to; thirteen years living in Warner Brothers. I do know a thing or two about the film industry."

"So you'll know how important these meetings are. I'm sorry, Dot, I can't help it."

Dot turned to face him, about to fight back, but she stopped herself, sighed, and shook her head.

"Im sorry, too. Go. Do your meetings or whatever."

"I really am sorry." He repeated, as he kissed her again and walked downstairs.

Dot just sighed, rubbing her eyes, before walking downstairs, too. Seeing Max and his friends watching TV, Dot checked her watch.

"Max, it's dinnertime, your friends are going to have to leave soon."

"Not yet." Max spoke defiantly, without even turning away from the tv set. "They don't want to go yet."

"Well then I'll have to call their parents."

"Big deal. Remember, if a woman picks up the phone, she'll be called "mum"."

Dot glared at him, but really didn't have teh energy to respond. Instead, she walked through to the kitchen, sat down at the table, and rested her head in her hands. Nearly twenty seven. And a husband hardly ever at home, a step-son who understandably resented her, since she was replacing his mother, and only sixteen years his senior. She hadn't seen her brothers for years. She loved Graham and Todd, and even Max. She loved working in the theatre, even if it was mostly small-time stuff for now. But she missed her brothers. She'd tried to contact them, but something had always gotten in the way. By the time she finally swallowed her pride and called them, she was told that they had moved out of the Water Tower some months previously. There wa no "Warner", "W." or "Y." listed in the telephone book, or any other directory. She sometimes felt so lost without them. Every now and then she'd look down at Todd, when he'd gotten rid of his hat and grubby overcoat. He'd wear brown slacks and a black jumper, and she'd be close to tears. She couldn't let on, though. How do you explain to a child that you're upset because they look just like the uncle they've never met, due to a fatal bout of sibling rivalry? She had to remind herself that this was Todd. He was different to her brothers. He never spoke a word, unless it was important. He had the priveleges of a loving home, and no blood-siblings. But there were more similarities than there seemed. The same sense of humour, the same tenadncy to horde random items, the same skills in gadgets and so on... "Blood wil out", as the saying goes, and Warner genes are strong. Even if his name was Strizlecki on paper, he was a Warner at heart. Dot sighed, and sat back in the kitchen chair, rubbing her eyes again. She felt a gentle tapping on her elbow, and looked down to see Todd pulling a bizzare face (he had yet to perfect the Harpo Marx "Gookie"). Dot laughed, and lifted him up onto her hip.

"What do you fancy for dinner, Todd? I don't know about you, but I can't be bothered to cook tonight." Dot walked over to the kicthen counter, and picked up the phone. Todd thought for a moment, before blowing a kiss on his fingertips and twiddling a finger round an imaginary moustache.

"Pizza?" He nodded. "Good idea." Dot smiled, keying in the number for the nearest take-away.


	6. Sticks and Stones may break my bones

Thanks so much for the feedback, guys. And I will try and make them sound a little more american in future chapters... but colour is still spelt with a U.

Also, in case you're interested, here is a link for the picture of Abbi, Gabby and Todd.

mad-madam-mimm./art/Abbi-Gabby-and-Todd-98123832

Now, on with the show!

Gabby shrunk back a little as the green and yellow hurricane burst into the room, spinning to a stop at the gym doors. Toon Skills was taught in the gym simply because it was the biggest empty space available, and there were plenty of gymnastics mats there to prevent possible injury. Gabby looked around, as the rest of the kids applauded the whirling, green-faced insanity that had just swept into the class.

"That's the teacher?" She whispered to Abbi, not taking her eyes off his sharp yellow suit, green head, or unnervingly large white teeth. Last night, she'd asked her dad what "Eccentric" meant, and she had a feeling this thing was the definition.

"Yup. Mr. M." Abbi nodded, grinning. "Don't worry, he's harmless. He's genious at toon skills."

"Really?" Gabby cut him another suspiscious glance, as he started joking with the other kids. "He just looks crazy to me."

Todd, ears perking at the conversation, shook his head and traced a square shape in mid-air with his finger, before grinning and laughing silently.

"Yeah, he was on TV for a while, ages ago." Abbi translated. She'd been friends with Todd for a while, so it was easy for her to understand his little mimes. " Mr M. was drawn 'specially for the series. No idea what it was about, though." Abbi shrugged, before all three of them jumped as Mr "M" started issuing instructions.

"Groups of two or three, please, grab a mat and someone call an ambulance. I forsee catastrophe!"

Gabby bit her lip as she and her new friends dragged one of the gymnastics mats over to a space near the back of the gym. She still didn't trust the teacher, but if he'd been drawn, rather than born, it would explain a lot. Everyone knew that cartoons were either drawn by animators and then brought to life, or born to already living cartoons. The ones who were drawn never got older, and were usually really weird. Her dad had said something about it, once, but hadn't gone into much detail. She'd then gone to the library and found out anyway. One of her more stubborn moments. When a toon was drawn and brought to life... some freak happening or complicated scientific stuff, she hadn't understood that bit... they were usually a lot crazier and had much higher abilities and thresholds. Something to do with DNA and genetics, she hadn't understood that bit too well either. But the basic gist was a "first generation" cartoon would be able to withstand more pain, do more crazy stunts, and were usually more unstable. However, as the generations continued, Toons slowly became more and more sensitised to the world around them; and although they could still do all the elementary toon things (like, say, surviving a fall off a tall building or making things appear from nowhere), they behaved more normally.

Abbi cut in on her thoughts, flicking her on the arm.

"Gab! You ever done spins before?"

Gabby shook her head. Spins were tricky, but seemed like lots of fun. Characters like Taz had made them really famous, especially for long periods of time. Mr M was raving on about how he was "somewhat of a spin expert", and that once they'd mastered spins they could go on to spin changes. The boys groaned. Spin changes, traditionally, were more of a girls trick. Mr M wagged his finger, rolling his eyes.

"Now now, boys. Spin changes are very useful. If not for comic effect, then certain maneouvers can prove infinitely useful on dates." Seeing the befuddled, eight year old faces gazing back at him, Mr M's expression dropped. "Trust me, it'll be usefull when you're older. Besides, even the great Mr Bunny has relied on spins a few times."

This was true. And it was enough to sell most of the boys on the idea. Todd even slapped his hand down on his hat and attempted a clumsy pirouette, overbalancing and falling over. The class laughed, and since he leapt up grinning, Gabby had the feeling it was staged. For a four year old, he was a convincing actor.

It took the three of them about ten minutes just to work out how to do it without bumping into each other, but soon enough, Abbi, Gabby and Todd had started spinning pretty fast, an managed to keep it up for quite a while, before the inevitable-

"WARGH!" Abbi wailed, as she tripped over her own tail and fell face down onto the mat. Gabby rushed over and crouched down by her friend's head.

"You ok?"

Abbi prized her face off the blue foam, and jutted her bottom lip out, puffing air up so her ears moved out of her face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Where's To- Ow!" She let out another indignant yelp as Todd, staggering dizzily across the mat after a particularly enthusiastic spin, tripped over her feet. Gabby heldback a giggle, blushing. Abbi scowled at her, but she couldn't help giggling herself. Gabby held out her hands to her friends, in an effort to help them up, but the two had other ideas, and pulled on her amrs so that she overbalanced and fell on top of them. The three lay there laughing for quite a while, unnoticed by most of the chaotic rabble of the class. Only one, solitary figure sat across the hall, arms crossed and knees drawn up as he glared at the three of them. Junior made no effort to join in the lesson, and, in return, litle effort was made to involve him. He'd tried once or twice, at the beginning of the lesson, but after he'd fallen down every time, and heard some barely concealed snickers from nearby groups, he'd given up in a huff. His "partner" (or rather, the kid Mr M had instructed to work with him on account of everyone else being in groups) had run off to go work with his friends, so now he was left here on his own. He growled a little, and glared at Abbi, Gabby and Todd. Abbi was his friend first, how come that new kid could just steal her away? That wasn't fair. He didn't like her, and he didn't like the fact that she was such a goody-goody. Junior had listened with contempt as Gabby had won over their teachers with her quiet, simpering voice and her shy blushes. He'd wriggled with disgust as she'd been introduced to him by Abbi, and smiled sweetly. He hated her. They'd been talking about family in one of their lessons, and Gabby had stolen all the attention away by whimpering that her parents were divorced. Junior glowered. He wasn't really sure what the word "hate" meant. But he was pretty certain he hated her.

At recess, Abbi and Gabby sat on the edge of the field, so they were right next to the concrete square people played ball games on. They were waiting for Todd to finish talking with the school nurse.

"Why does he have to talk to her every day?" Gabby asked, holding one hand up to shield her eyes from the sun as she strained her neck up, watching Abbi pretend to tightrope walk on the line between concrete and grass. She had her arms stretched out to either side, and was wearing the same dusty pink skirt and blue hoody she had on yesterday. She kept stopping to push the sleeves of the jumper back up her arms.

"Because the school have to check how he's fitting in to his lessons, since he's in older classes. Plus they get worried about how he never speaks, so they have to check he's not got anything wrong with his brain or something." Abbi shrugged.

"Oh." Gabby nodded, itching at her tomato nose. Why were adults always butting in? Todd pulled horrible faces whenever he was dragged off five minutes before recess to go talk to the nurse, so Gabby had come to the conclusion he didn't like the sessions. The nurse was the horsey woman she'd seen him talking to yesterday, and she seemed friendly enough. Boring, though. Her voice went up and down on every other word, so it sounded like she was jogging all the time... "CAN I PLEASE speak TO Todd, MR Bunny?" Gabby didn't like it, she sounded too jumpy, like if you said "boo" she'd jump a foot in the air and scream. Gabby stopped thinking about it when Abbi nudged her with her foot.

"You alright?"

"Yup." Gabby nodded, as Abbi rolled up her sleeves again. "How come you wear that jumper when it's so hot?"

"Always wear it." Abbi sniffed, grinning at her friend, somewhat proud. "It was my dad's but now it's mine. And I wear it all the time 'cos it's cool." She smiled again, sticking her tongue out and flipping the red hood up.

"oh..." Gabby said again. "Okay then. Oh! There's Todd!" She stood up and waved as she saw Todd slipping through the double doors at the side of the school. He waved back, and started running towards them. Gabby turned back to say something to Abbi, but just as she opened her mouth she got thrown forward as something collided hard with the back of her head. She put her hands out to stop herself from landing flat on the grass, but still got mucky grass stains on her gloves. She sat up, rubbing the back of her head, looking around. There was a red rubber dodgeball rolling quietly across the concrete away from her, and she had a feeling that was what had caused the stinging of the impact. But who'd thrown it.

"You ok?" Abbi asked, looking around too, before wriggling round behind her and checking the back of her head. "No bruise, don't think... you're not bleeding, anyway-"

"Eew, Abbi!" Gabby whimpered, hating thinking about blood. She saw Junior pick up the dodgeball and walk toward them, cutting in front of Todd.

"Aww, baby want to cry?" He sneered, as he threw the ball at her again. This time, she caught it, and held it between her knees.

"What's up, Junior?" Gabby didn' like the way hewas glaring at her, and yelped as he kicked at her ankles. Abbi leapt up to her feet, holding Gabby's hand.

"What's your problem, meathead?" She gave a slight tug on Gabby's hand, helping her up.

"Oh sure, stick up for her." Junior growled. A few of the kids around them were taking interest in what was going on. Not that Gabby noticed; She was transfixed by the fire burning in Junior's eyes. He was glaring at her, not a trace of friendliness or even indifference. Kids had ignored her before, but no one had ever singled her out on purpose. It was scary. She gripped Abbi's hand tight, and was a little happy to feel Abbi squeeze back. Junior crossed his arms, stepping closer so that he could look down on her. He was tall, for his age, and stocky. Gabby was fairly petite herself, but she was dwarfed in comparison. Junior bared his teeth, showing off gleaming fangs.

"Bet you would stick up for her, too. Three little freaks, got to stick together." When he said the word "freaks", he spat it, making it sound like a really dirty word. A bunch more kids stopped what they were doing and watched.

"Who you calling a freak, blubber boy?" Abbi scowled back, squeezing Gabby's hand again. "Thought you said we were best friends?"

"That was before you started hanging out with divorce girl." Junior said, pushing Gabby in the chest. "No one wants her, not even her parents."

The playground was deathly silent. Somehow, everyone knew that was a line that shouldn't be crossed. Gabby took a sharp breath, feeling like the moment he'd said the words, she'd been punched in the stomach with them. Her eyes started feeling warm and prickly, and her lips felt really dry.

"Not true!" She said, but it came out as a choked yelp, which Junior just laughed at.

"It is. It always is. I bet they were fine before they found out you were such a freak."

Abbi let go of Gabby's hand, and shoved Junior in the chest, hard.

"Don't say that!" She growled, standing so close they were almost nose to nose. She had to stand up on tip-toe a little bit, but she was just as scary. "You don't say that about my friends or anyone, not ever!"

"Why not? It's true." Junior shoved Abbi back, so that she stumbled back a step. He stopped, and looked round as he felt tiny thuds on his back. Todd was hammering on his back with tiny gloved fists, making little effect. Junior just laughed, grabbed Todd's wrist, and swung him round so he was standing with the other two. "Three freaks together. Gotta stick together, since no one else'd go near you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Abbi growled, stepping forward again. Gabby sniffed and watched. She wished she could be brave like her, but she had a feeling if she said anything it would come out a sob.

"Look at those tails. Those stupid little ears and big furry faces. Who wants cheek to cheek carpetting?" He jeered, and a few kids laughed. Gabby swallowed, feeling Todd grip her hand. He didn't know what to do either. She was pretty sure she even saw Abbi blush a little. But Junior wasn't done yet. "And as for mime and teeth-face over there..." Gabby carefully raised her hand to her mouth. She knew she had a little bit of an over-bite, but it wasn't that bad, was it? "Babys! You were almost cool, Abbi, and now you've found out there's more weird freaks and you're gonna be just like them! Babies and brains!" He jeered again, laughing. The kids who laughed before were louder this time, a few even walking over to stand behind Junior. Gabby looked around, seeing the crowd of eyes on her.

"It's not true. We're just the same as you..."

"Baby." Junior grinned, triumphant as Gabby started to find it hard to fight off the tears. "Little divorce baby who nobody loves."

Todd, looking from Abbi to Gabby, suddenly seemed to make up his mind. He ran over to Junior and kicked him in the back of his knees. Junior grunted in pain, grabbed Todd by the shoulders and swung him round so he skidded on the concrete behind him. Abbi, who had been quietly seething till then, stormed forward and pushed Junior again, this time, really hard. Junior stumbled back, and tripped over the crouching Todd, falling back and knocking his head on the concrete. Abbi wasted no time jumping on his chest and hitting him. The kids gathered round chanting for a fight, While Gabby sniffed back tears once more, picking Todd up and checking he was ok. Before they could turn to pull Abbi off, however...

"ABIGAIL WARNER!" The voice came from across the playground, stopping everyone in their tracks. The school's deputy head, a fat, crochety, grey-haired old woman with pointy yellow teeth and a horrible sharp nose, came thundering across the concrete rectangle. She was known as Mrs Finster, and was a horrible old battle-axe. Everyone hated and feared her. Abbi tried to run off, but wasn't quick enough. Finster grabbed her by the shoulder, and picked Junior up by his. "Fighting is against school rules. The pair of you are in big trouble!"

"But he-" Abbi began, to be cut off by finster's rattling voice.

"Ah, ah ah. No buts, missy. You two are going to the principal's office."

Gabby and Todd watched helplessly, as Abbi was half walked, half dragged to the principal's office. Gabby sat down on the grass, staring at the stains on her gloves, Junior's taunts echoing round in her mind...

Gabby didn't see Abbi again until lunchtime, and even then she was sat across the cafeteria, being watched by Finster. Gabby had sat next to Todd, and they'd planned to sneak into her detention to see her. She looked horribly sad, sat ther fiddling with her fork, occasionally taking a spiteful bite of her food. Junior was sat next to her, looking just as dejected, but not at all sorry. Eventually, he finished, and was taken off to the gym, presumably for his detention. Gabby and Todd watched helplessly, as Abbi was taken to the science room for her own punishment. Todd looked at Gabby, grinning. He threw back what was left of his milk, wiping his mouth on the back of his sleeve, and pulled a weird, cross-eyed face at her, before motioning to go. They needed to see Abbi.

Walking down the empty corridors, Gabby and Todd were cautious on their trip to the science classroom, making sure Finster was nowhere about. Carefully, as they reached the classroom, Gabby stood on tiptoe and peeked over the bottom of the window. There, sat at one of the front desks, with her head in her arms crossed on the table and glaring at her pencil. Gabby glanced around. There was no one else in the room. Gabby turned back to Todd, giving him the thumbs up, and lifting a finger to her lips. Todd raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. Gabby sighed.

"Alright, take your point." She muttered, opening the door, checking to make sure no one was would see them. This was bad. She could get in serious trouble for this... but she wanted to see her friend.

Abbi looked up as they entered, but didn't move.

"Hi." She sniffed, resting her chin on her hands. Gabby and Todd crept over to her, still wary of being spotted. Todd ran over, and poked her arm. Abbi shrugged him off.

"What happened?" Gabby asked, sitting next to her.

"They sent Junior off to the nurse, 'cos he had a bump on his head." Abbi grumbled, still not looking up. "Then they made me talk to Mr Bunny 'cos they thought I was being bad. I tried to tell him about what Junior said but I got all nervous and it came out jumbled, so I don't think he understood. Then Finster phoned my parents, but they weren't in. So she said she's going to call them again later... and I have to stay in here all lunch and do science homework."

"Oh... well, that's not so bad..." Gabby sniffed a little, looking over at the notebook in front of Abbi. "There was a boy at my last school who beat up another kid and had to have classes by himself for a week."

"Yeah, but I can't do science." She sniffed in reply, slamming her pencil down on the desk in frustration. "If I do it at home then mum can help, but I can't..." She whimpered, her tail twitching as she got worked up. Gabby patted her friend's shoulder, looking at the sheet in front of her. It was a basic looking printout of a skeleton, with arrows pointing to different bits with blank spaces they were supposed to fill in. Gabby looked at Abbi, still sniffing, her ears wilting like lillies.

"I know a song about it... if it'll help..." She blushed bright pink, hoping Abbi wouldn't want her to sing it. She didn't like singing in front of people. She didn't like speaking in front of people, to start with.

"Really?" Abbi sniffed, blinking at her. "How's it go?"

Gabby twitched her tail and wrinkled her nose, looking around for a distraction.

"Oh come on, Gabby... sing it, please, otherwise I'll never get done." Abbi pleaded, whimpering at her with large, soft eyes. Gabby sighed, relenting. She had to remember to use that one on dad...

"Well... it starts off... Everybody knows about the anklebone connected to the other bones you have inside your leg.." Gabby spoke more than she sung, her words barely above a whisper. Abbi and Todd watched her quietly, so she closed her eyes and carried on a little louder.

"And every body knows it's true, without the bones inside of you, your body would become a scrambled egg!" Abbi and Todd laughed at this (or rather, Abbi laughed, and Todd grinned, so she assumed it was good) and Gabby got a little louder, and started singing a little more.

"So the toe bone's connected to the foot bone

and the foot bone's connected to the ankle bone

and the slide is connected to the trombone-" Here Todd made an impressive trombone impression, and everyone giggled for a bit, before Gabby carried on.

She sang the rest of the song, and everyone cheered up considerably, Abbi filling in the sheet as she went. Before long they were finihed, and Gabby and Todd had to leave before Finster came back. They slipped out of the science room door, and quietly back to their homeroom, where Gabby would need to be for registration. Todd waved goodbye as he walked off to the kindergarten, and just as Gabby turned to continue walking down the corridor, she tripped and fell flat on her face. Rolling over and wiping tears from her eyes as her nose stung with pain, she saw Junior looming over her.

"Your freak buddy won't be around to help you all the time." He growled, as Gabby lay there, helpless. "And I'm going to make sure you hurt. I don't like you. But no one does. No one likes the divorce kid." He growled again, before walking off. Gabby pulled herself to her feet, shaken and furtive. She looked around the empty halls. No one had seen. She walked quietly to homeroom, wishing harder than ever just to be invisible. She just wanted to go home.


	7. Daddy's gone to buy you a mocking bird

The quiet chink of steel on china mixed in with the gentle wet thuds of heavy black raindrops, as the TV babbled quietly to itself. Yakko looked up from his dinner, watching Gabby bat a few peas across the plate with her fork.Setting the table when there was only the two of them was little short of depressing, and he still hadn't quite settled in to the new apartment, so he and Gabby had taken to eating in front of the TV, although it usually supplied background noise. Tonight, though, there seemed a definite lull in energy. Gabby hadn't said a word, and seemed completely withdrawn. Mousey was one thing, but she usually had something to say... He rested his knife and fork together on his plate, putting it on the coffee table.

"You ok, Gab?"

"Oh..." She jumped, suddenly shocked out of her private thoughts. She looked around, but didn't take her eyes off the floor, and returned quickly to her barely touched dinner. "Yes, thanks."

"You're not eating."

"I'm... not hungry."

Yakko watched her, eyebrows raised. Something was cleary upsetting her.

"Everything ok at school?" There was a silent nod from Gabby as she continued to stare at her plate. "Any problems? With teachers, say? Or other kids?" Silence. "Gabby?"

"Nothing. It's fine." She sniffed, putting her knife and fork down, and pushing her plate away.

"Gabby, you've hardly eaten anything." He was beginning to get a little frustrated. She wasn't normally this uncooperative. "Please, try."

"I'm not hungry." She replied, a slightly stubborn note edging into her voice.

"Look, I've worked hard today, I've come home and I've cooked it for you, now please, eat." He spoke with a forced level to his voice, pushing her plate back in front of her.

"I don't want to." She insisted, pushing it away. Her voice faltered slightly as she spoke, and the wave of emotion that came with it meant she misjudged her movement, and the plate toppled off the edge of the coffee table, landing sauce down on the carpet.

"Gabby!" Yakko snapped, standing up. "What a mess; that's going to stain!" He probably spoke a little too loudly,after having a frustrating day at work, and it was unsuprising that Gabby jumped out of her chair like a shot.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"For god's sake, Gabby, can't you look at what you're doing for once?"

"I'm sorry!"

"How the hell am I going to get that out? It's gone everywhere..."

"I'm sorry!" She yelped, her eyes wide and watery. Yakko couldn't remember the last time she'd raised her voice, and the sudden exclamation shocked him into silence. She sniffed and wiped her eyes on her sleeve, looking at the floor. "I'm sorry, and I didn't mean to but it wasnt my fault so please don't yell at me an-an-and..." her lip trembled, as big tears began to fall off the en of her tomato nose. "And you only yelled at me 'cos you're mad, not 'cos you don't love me anymore... right?"

Yakko tried to stay firm, but he knew he was in the wrong as much as she was. Besides, those big puppy dog eyes would make anyone crumble. Smiling quietly to himself, he bent down and scooped her up in his arms, walking over to the window.

"I'm sorry." He sighed, patting her back. "Stupid old dad let his problems out in the worst possible way. I was angry because of work, and I took it out on you. It was a very bad thing to do. Forgive me?" A quiet sniff came from Gabby, and he was pretty sure she nodded. "Good. You are my number one favourite girl, whom I love more than anyone else in the world. I'll never stop loving you. Okay?"

"'Kay." A high pitched tremble emitted from her. He smiled again, patting her back and holding her close. She wrapped her arms 'round his neck, and they stood hugging for some time. He looked out over the rain-splattered skyline of Toon Town. He closed his eyes, and let himself be lost in the hug. He wanted his stress to go away. He wanted all his troubles to go away, and just be lost in this moment forever. He'd let his job get the better of him before, and the results of that had been catastrophic. As he looked out over Toon Town, he wondered where his sibs had gotten to. It had been seven... no, eight years now, with no contact. Not a word. Dot had married some writer, but he'd read that in some film Trade news magazine, the details had been minimal. Wakko... he didn't have a clue. Could he blame them, though, for the silence? No, of course not. He'd not tried to contact them, until about four years ago, just after having heard about Dot's marriage. He'd called Tellulah's house, he'd called the studios, he'd even called some of the old faces from Animaniacs to see if they knew anything, but all he'd gotten from it was the knowledge that they'd moved with no forwarding address... that, and a large phone bill. Calling California from Florida got to be expensive. The move itself hadn't been cheap, but at the time it had been necessary. Babs had her sights set on a career, and MGM studios had offered her one. He could get work there too, and Disney were a lot easier to satisfy, musically speaking, than Warner Brothers. He'd often wondered how a rabbit and a famed flirt such as himself had only produced one child, but then he also knew, just as he'd always known, it was never meant to be. He wasn't suprised when she'd told him. It was almost as if she'd never been his. He was only borrowing her. A co-dependant rebound relationship that had been allowed to grow too much. But how do you explain that to a seven year old?

"Junior said no one loves a divorce kid. He said I was ugly and a freak and that no one would love me."

Yakko was lost for a second by this sudden information, before remembering the situation at hand, rather than losing himself in the ones that had been.

"Who's Junior?"

"A boy in my class. He's horrible to my friends and no one likes him..."

"Sounds like a bully to me."

"He is."

"A big bully with no brains, if he thinks half those things are anywhere near true. Because you're a beauty, you hear me?" He drummed his fingers on her back, emphasising each syllable. Gabby gave a tear-soaked laugh. "You want me to say something to the teachers?"

"No, he'd just pick on me more."

"No he won't." Yakko soothed, nuzzling the back of her neck with his nose. "Tell you what. You just ignore him, pay him no attention whatsoever, and if he's still being horrible by next week, I'll say something at the parent-teacher thing, ok?"

"Ok." She sniffed, sounding a little better now. "But what if-"

"No "what-ifs", just trust me. Ignore him completely, and get your friends to ignore him too. Pretty soon, he'll get bored and leave you alone."

"You're sure?"

"Positive." He laughed, spinning around so they both whirled in a circle, before setting her down on the floor again. "Come on, let's get some paper towels and tidy up this mess. Unless you want to eat meatballs and carpet fluff?"

"Yuck!" She giggled, as they moved towards the kitchen.

"On top of spaghetti..." Yakko sang, dancing around the pasta mess, cheered on by Gabby's high-pitched laugh. "All coverred in cheese... I lost my poor meatball, when somebody sneezed..."

Across town, Abbi hung her head, fiddling with her spoon. She occasionally dragged her eyes up from the kitchen work surfaces, but her Dad was still eating, and didn't seem to notice her. She looked back at the kitchen surface. Her mum was in the kitchen, preparing dessert. They'd just finished dinner, and it had been a very quiet meal. Abbi knew that the school had phoned home to tell them about the fight, but so far neither parent had said anything. She knew it was coming, though. Her dad hadn't made one funny face or silly joke all evening.

"Spoon down, please, Abbi." She jumped a little as her dad adressed her, and hastily replaced the spoon. She looked up to see him staring at her, with his elbows on the table and his ands together under his chin. Oh dear. She'd often been told off before, but it was usually just a "don't do that" or "get down from there". This looked like it might be serious... she'd never been punished before. She slowly dragged her eyes up to meet her fathers. They were, for once, completely blank. He stared at her, totally silent and completely still, with no suggestion of any emotion. It unnerved her. Had she been that bad? Was he so angry he couldn't talk to her? What if he never spoke to her ever again?

"You know the school called earlier?"

"Yeah..." She whispered, trying a nervous smile. He remained still. She looked back at the table.

"Why were you fighting?"

"Because... It's not my fault. Junior was being horrible to me and Gabby and Todd so I had to do something, and he threw a ball at Gabby and knocked her over. I was only sticking up for her."

"But violence isn't the way to do it." He spoke in a forced level, stressing each syllable.

"I know and I'm sorry but I had to do something!" She whined, looking at him through large puppy-dog eyes. Wakko had the upper hand though. He'd had years of exposure to puppy dog eyes and held a chance of immunity.He looked down at her, determined to remain strong and stern. She needed to learn, and she needed to be punished... He looked down at her, and saw her large watery eyes. Curses. There went that plan.

"I'm sorry, dad..." she said again, looking away and picking at the cuff of her jumper.

"I know..." He sighed, coverring his face in his hands. She looked up at him, and he pulled his hands away, revealing his cross-eyed, puffy cheeked gookie face. She giggled, smiling and slipping down from her chair.

"Why do you pull that funny face?"

"That funny face?" Wakko repeated, a little indignant. "That's a Grade-A gookie, my girl. Its an historic tradition." He grinned, hugging her, before pulling away slightly, so he could rest his nose on hers. "Now you listen to me. If I ever hear about you resrting to violence again, I will be very disappointed, you understand?"

"Yes, Dad." She nodded, soberly.

"You come from a family of great wit. Violence is not the answer. If some kid's annoying you, then fight with your words, not your hands."

"Yes, dad."

"Good. Now that is a promise, and it can't be broken. Now go on, go run off dinner before your mother comes out with dessert."

She grinned, wrapped her hands around his neck once more, and ran off. He hadn't punished her. He hadn't smacked her or grounded her or yelled at her. But that look... that look of utter disappointment. It was all she needed. She knew it would be too much to bear if she ever did it again.

He smiled as she ran off upstairs. Eight years old and didn't recognise a gookie... he needed to educate her in the classics. Stretching his arms, he walked out of the kitchen, towards the stairs. Bending down, he opened the stair cupboard, and took in the shelves of films hidden behind it. Videos and DVDs that he had loved since childhood. There was about half a shelf dedicated to Tellulah's chick films, but it paled into insignificance next to collections of action, explosions, comedy, music, and sheer imagination. He adored films. It was escape, it was enjoyment... you could be anywhere, do anything, at the touch of a button. He pulled away a stack of DVDs on the top shelf to reveal yet more. There they were... a set of six boxes, containing the entire collection of Marx Brothers films. He moved it to a space at the front of the second shelf, so he would be reminded to show Abbi some time. Curious, he looked at the other boxes on that pile. A Muppet Show collection featuring Bob Hope, Milton Berle and George Burns; He remembered Dot had given it to him for his 18th birthday. He had been very much into the Vaudeville comics at the time. Behind that, there was a collection of Don Knotts... god, he hadn't watched them in years. He remembered being probably the only eleven year old in existence to be obsessed with him... in fact, at that point in the nineties he was probably the only eleven year old to have a clue who Don Knotts was. Underneath the Don Knotts videos was a bumper collection box of Tiny Toon Adventures, which Buster had signed jokingly about a week after they'd first met. It had been embarrassing, having a co-worker find out he was a fan of theirs, but Buster had handled it with good grace and invited him out for pizza. He chuckled to himself as he eased the video from it's place in the pile, dusting it off. He remembered the first few weeks on the film lot. They had been chaotic. What with them being moved in to the water tower, Tiny Toons still filming, writers being reassigned to different projects, and casting for the rest f the show... He was amazed how many people actually brought the idea they'd been locked in the tower since the twenties. He knew they'd looked old-fashioned, but believing that as fact was a stretch for the imagination.

He remembered the looks on Bill and Maggie's face. He'd never called them Mom or Dad, and neither had Dot. They were Bill and Maggie, the foster parents who wanted some extra income that wasn't tax-deductible. From the age of six to the age of ten, Wakko had been their decoy, working for nothing in Bill's shop, living by Maggie's ridiculous house-rules... Still, YAkko had often reminded them it was better than living with their biological parents. Now there was a match made in hell. Yelling at each other all the time they were in the house, which admittedly wasn't much. By five, he knew more cuss words from over-hearing his parents than any other kid. That was why he hated foul language, and violence. All three of them did. Using crude language and throwing things; it just made the fight dirty, and there are no winners in a dirty fight. So, parents had divorced, dumped the Warners at a care home, where they were adopted by Bill and Maggie some months later. That was when Yakko came into his stride. Being the oldst, he'd always looked out for them a little more, but when they were left with a choice between negligent care home workers, or being hustlers and scroungers for Bill and Maggie, he really took control. It was him that got them into the auditions. The Warners were never happier than when they were putting on plays, or acting out pieces from plays, or trying to out do each other at word-play or funny faces. So, he'd got them into an open audition at Warner Brothers. They were made to walk, with everyone else, in a line past the directors table. The first three times they did it, they got nothing, but then somehow, they got picked out for a new show being produced by Steven Spielberg. The rest, as they say, is history. Bill and Maggie were dumbstruck when they found out they were losing their minions, but the trhee had been adamant. Sign the contract, or they'd tell the police the whole sordid deal. Petty thievery on one count is nothing big, but incriminating a minor and threatening them to perform illegal and unlawful acts on over 15 seperate occasions... Yakko knew how to talk his way out of a situation, even then...

Wakko blinked a little, as the blank smiles grinned at him from underneath Buster's black marker pen scribble. God, he missed those days, sometimes. It wasn't the filming. It wasn't the lifestyle. It wasn't the free buffets, although they were fun... It was the feeling of belonging. His siblings. Every day, when Tellulah was pregnant, he wanted to call Yakko, and ask for advice. When they were getting married, he wanted to talk to Dot, ask her the most romantic way to say his vows. And when Abbi was born, the entire sun-flooded sky of pure amazement and love... it was only smeared by one little cloud. Those missing branches of the family tree. Where were they? he'd stayed in Europe with Tellulah and her sister-in-law for about six months after that god-forsaken argument. And, in six months, Yakko had moved out of the tower. Dot was just untraceable, and her roommatewas less than helpful. They'd disappeared, it seemed. And he kind of felt like a part of him disappeared too. He shook his head, putting the video back on its shelf. He nudged another video, and it toppled off, landing face down on the floor. Wakko picked it up.

_"Animaniacs sing-along Volume 1" _

Sometimes, life just seemed too ironic to be true.

"Wakk, sweetie!" Tellulah stuck her head round the door, looking at him. "Dessert's done, can you go get Abbi?"

"Sure thing." He stood up, stretching.

"You alright?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Just... reminiscing." He gave a thin lipped smile, sratching the back of his head. Just reminiscing.


	8. Ye Canny Push Yer Granny off a bus

Todd gripped the back of the chair with his white gloved hands, watching his mum's feet carefully. As he concentrated on the steps, he bit his lip absent-mindedly. He dragged his foot back across the floor, so that first the heel, then the toe of the shoe connected, making the same light tap sound as his mother. She grinned at him, and changed feet. Learning tap dancing was hard. First there was the problem with shoes; most of the time he didn't bother wearing shoes, as his feet were resilient enough to withstand day to day use without protection. But tap dancing meant you needed shoes, and the size of his feet meant they were difficult to get hold of. Not impossible, but difficult. He wondered if it was easier for humans, or even human toons to learn tap dancing. But his mum and his teacher said he was getting the hang of it, so maybe he wasn't that bad.

Tap dancing was just one of Todd's fascinations with a bygone age. Dot had often sat with him, watching old Fred Astaire films, and other musicals, most of which had a dance number at some point. She'd been doing tap since she was nine, ever since she and her brothers were needed to do a short dance bit in "On the home front we're marching along", one of their songs from an episode set during world war two. She'd fallen in love with it, and carried on pacticing. Todd had watched all the old movies with her, and decided he wanted to dance too. So here they were, stood in the living room, practicing pickup steps. It may not sound like much, but to Dot, these saturday morning moments werethe times she would treasure. Soon, she would be called into rehearsal, and Carrie Leon would be there any minute to take Todd to the park for the day. Then she'd get home at six, pour herself a smoothie and curl up with Todd and Graham, and sometimes even Max, and they'd all enjoy a film. If it was just her and Todd, it was usually one of her old musicals. If Graham was there, then it would be a black and white classic, something like casablanca or the Marx Brothers. And if Max was there, it was guaranteed to be colour and explosions. She didn't mind. A film was a film, either way, and she loved the sense of escape and fantasy. That was one of the Warner family traits, she guessed, being a film buff.

Todd seemed to have inherited this trait, for he loved films, and his favourites were all the old black and white ones. Ever since he was a baby, he'd been fascinated by the soft sounds and flickering colours. He seemed to like the way everyone dressed and acted back then, too. Maybe even he way they spoke, though from his constant Harpo Marx impersonation it was hard to tell. She watched as he stared down at his feet, carefully analysing each step like he was reading a new word, before he turned around and started doing shuffle steps. Dot rolled her eyes. He seemed to like shuffle steps. She wouldn't mind, but they scratched the hell out of the floor...

The doorbell rang, just as Todd jumped onto the couch, reaching down and untying his shoes. Dot walked over to the door, her shoes still tapping with each step. She opened the door to see Carrie Leon, Todd's plump, bushy haired minder standing there, looking flushed and nervous.

"Carrie, are you alright?"

"Oh, Dot, sweetheart I'm so sorry but I can't look after Todd today." She pulled her green plastic rimmed shades down her nose, and Dot saw her eyes were pink, as if she'd ben crying. "Erwin was over at his father's house and I just got a phone call saying he'd swallowed something- Erwin, I mean, and now they've had to take him to hospital."

"Gosh, yes... I understand completely!" Dot nodded, the poor woman's worry was becoming contageous. "Yes, by all means, I'll just cancel rehearsal-"

"Oh no, Dot, sweetheart, there's no need for that..." Carrie pushed her glasses back up her nose and began rooting around in her yellow PVC handbag. "That's why I came to see you... I have an adress here of a friend who said she'd look after Todd... She's not as young as she used to be, bless her, but she certainly knows how to take care of kids... Here we go!" She smiled triumphantly, masking the worry, as she pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to Dot. "Now I really have to go..." She sniffed again, and ran back towards the gate. "Send her my love!"

"Yes, I hope Erwin's better soon!" Dot called after her, before easing the door shut. She turned round to see Todd poking his nose over the back of the couch. "Well." She said, managing a smile. "Looks like you're going to have a new minder today."

And so, a half hour later, Dot and Todd found themselves outside a retirement complex, on the outskirts of Toon Town. Dot raised her eyebrows, wondering if an elderly woman was really suitable care... But if Carrie trusted her, it would be commendation enough, right? She gripped Todd's hand, and they walked through the doors, and handed the piece of paper to the nurse behind the desk. The nurse was a pink octopus-toon, who was, naturally, doing three jobs at once. Looking up from the pen and paper, on which she was scribbling some notes, the nurse put a tentacle over the end of the telephone she was talking into and looked at the address.

"Ah. Ms Leon send you over for emergency child care?" She said with a slight roll of the eyes, suggesting it wasn't an unfamiliar routine.

"Uh... yes."

"Go through the double doors, into the garden area. 31 C, you can't miss it."

"Oh... thank you." Dot was slightly caught off guard by how easily the Nurse was accepting he protocol, and had been expecting a very different response. "Well... come on Todd." She shrugged, smiling down at her son, who grinned back up at her and pushed through the heavy glass doors.

The garden area was a lush green lawn, with flower beds, trees, benches and a water feature, all arranged to make a sort of courtyard, currently being enjoyed by both residents and nurses of the centre. In the middle of the courtyard stood a large acorn tree, with a small blue door in the bark, just tall enough for Dot to go through, and quite round. Dot gave a gasp, and realised she hadn't checked the name on the piece of paper Carrie had given her. Reaching into her pocket, she fumbled with the paper, trying to unfold it. Grinning, the name scrawled in blue ink on the op of the piece of paper confirmed Dot's suspiscions.

"Come on, Todd." She grinned, walking towards the tree and knocking on the door. "You're about to meet an old friend of mine."

Todd, intrigued, jumped up the small doorstep and stood a little behind his mother. He wasn't usually shy, but he didn't want to intrude.

Dot knocked three times, and for a while there was silence. Todd looked at the doorhandle, waiting for it to move. He scratched his nose. Maybe they should knock again. He'd just reached forwards to do so, when the door flew open and revealed a slightly hunched, but sharp eyed squirrel toon. She wore a green bowler hat with a flower in it, and leant on a dark green umberella with a wooden duck's head as a handle.

"Yeah, what?" The squirrel raised an eyebrow, looking from one of her visitors to the other. Todd quietly gripped his mother's jeans, a little intimidated by this old woman. Dot just grinned, and scooped Todd up in her arms, before smiling happily at the squirell.

"What, a girl can't pay her old co-star a visit?" She smiled wryly, as Slappy squinted at her, before her eyes grew wide with realisation. "Can we come in, or am I still on the dynamite penalty for throwing your walnuts down the garbage disposal."

Slappy allowed herself a grin, before standing aside to let Dot in.

"Foolish of me not to have guessed. arrie phoned to tell me she was deferring some of her charges my way, but I never cottoned that "Todd Warner" would be anything to do with you." She coughed a little, rubbing the small of her back, before shuffling closer to Todd. "I assume that you must be Todd then?"

Todd looked at the squirrel, before smiling and extending his hand.

"Well, ain't he the gentleman?" Slappy chuckled, shaking his hands. "To recylce a catchphrase, you remind me of a young Harpo Marx."

Todd beamed at this,jumping out of his mothers arms, andstanding happily on the floor. Dot just laughed, and hugged Slappy.

"It's been so long..."

"I should say. Here, sit down, let's talk." Slappy motioned to one of the old brown armchairs in front of her TV set. The room was pretty much the same as her old tree, which they filmed most of Slappy's cartoons in, except there was a kitchen/breakfast bar area, and a chairlift on the stairs. There was also a small playpen in the space underneath the stairs, which looked like something stolen from the set of Rugrats.

"Where on earth have you been for the last eight years?" Slappy chuckled, easing herself in to one of the chairs. From the side of the chair, she picked up a large maroon handbag and began rifling through it. She eventually produced an old VHS tape and read the label. Then she looked at Todd. "You, good sir, look like a conneisseur of the classics. You lik old 'toons, kid?"

Todd nodded enthusiastically, and sat down on the floor, resting his head against Dot's feet as she sat in the second armchair. Slappy smiled to herself and pushed the old tape into the VCR. The tv set fuzzed for a moment, before playing the opening for one of Slappys old cartoons, Cavegirl Slappy. Todd was instantly mezmerised, and let the cheery music take him away. Slappy sat back, and turned to Dot.

"Three years at TAPA, then you got married to some director, then what?"

"I worked for a year, and then I had Todd." Dot stated, a little defensive. She could see from the stare Slappy was giving her, this was going to be a Serious Conversation. She had had enough Serious Conversations with the squirrel during her teenage years, and really didn't like the idea of having more of them now.

"Oh." Slappy said, quite simply, sitting back in her chair again. Her eyes flickered to the TV screen, and to Todd, who giggled as a younger Slappy caved in Beanie the Bison's head with a prehistoric club.Dot waited for the question that she knew was coming, watching Slappy, almost daring her to say something. But she said nothing. Dot turned her attention to the TV set, stroking Todd's ears absent-mindedly.

"So what's this director husband of yours like?" Slappy asked, dragging her eyes away from the TV set.

"He's nice." Dot smiled, leanign back in her chair. "Very clever. Very funny. He's a bit of a work-a-holic, but then man is moulded by his flaws."

"What?"

"Shakespeare." Dot smiled, looking at Slappy.

"Oh that's right, you're in the theatre now." Slappy grinned, a slight mock posh tone to her voice. "How goes things in the limelight? The old Televisual set not up to standard, eh?"

"Slappy." Dot half reprimanded, half whined. "I like the theatre. It's fun, you actually get to feel what the audience feels. Its not just acting, its an experience."

"Yeah, if you say so, kid." Slappy grinned at Dot, her eyes narrowed as if in triumph. Dot just smiled and shook her head.

"So... Have you spoken to the boys since that bust up a few years back?"

Dot tensed up. Damn. The squirrel had caught her off-guard. She shoould have known better.

"No. And I'd thank you not to talk about them now."

"Why not?" Slappy's tone was as level as ever, but Dot knew exactly what she was getting at.

"Hey, I tried. It's not my fault. I just... stuff got in the way, ok?"

"Hey, i'm not accusing you..." Slappy held her hands up in defense, and her eyes slowly slid to Todd, who had now dragged his eyes away from the cartoon to look at his mother in confusion. Dot smiled, and stepped over him so she could stand up.

"Todd, sweetie, you sit here and watch the cartoons, Slappy and I have grown up things to talk about." Dot bent down and kissed his nose, before walking over to the breakfast bar area. Slappy followed, slowly, and with a grudging cough.

"All I'm saying is that the kid deserves to know his own family."

"And he will." Dot muttered. "I just... can't tell him. Not yet."

"If he doesn't know about his uncles, I'm guessing he doesn't know about the show either?"

"He doesn't need to know." Dot snapped, pressing her fingers over her eyes.

"You know..." Slappy muttered, drumming her fingers on the handle of her umberella. "They say that you can only ever teach if you know you've finished your own lessons."

Dot took her hands away from her eyes, and gave Slappy a long, hard look.

"Who has ever said that, Slappy?"

"I read it in a fortune cookie once." Slappy shrugged, innocently, then quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, what's with the Harpo Marx obsession?"

"Oh, his father's influence. Todd's obsessed with all the old black and white films."

"He's a quiet thing, isn't he?"

"Oh, he makes noise, alright. He just doesn't speak." Dot rolled her eyes, leaning on the breakfast bar.

"Oh... why?"

"I don't know... he can, he just chooses not to. Graham keeps talking about having him checked for sighns of autism. I know, though. Todd's not ill. Graham just doesn't understand." Dot's tone was unavoidably bitter. Things had been far from paradise lately, with Graham under stress from work, and her under stress from her brat of a stepson. Things were different from how they used to be. The kind kisses, the happy family photos... somehow, all those things had melted away. And somehow, looking up at Slappy through weary eyes, Dot knew the squirrel understood. Slappy had always been there for her, one of the few other female toons on set. Dot put her hand on Slappys, and sighed. "When did it all get so hard?"

Slappy patted her hand sympathetically, returning her gaze. Then she turned away, clutching the small of her back again, and walking back towards her chair.

"When you grew up, kiddo. You should hear the tales I get from Skippy. 'Course, he doesn't go by that name any more. He's Scott or Skyler or something equally stupid. But still, why don't you call off whatever you've got on today, sit here with me, we'll have cocoa, coffee, cartoons, and slowly but surely put the world to lefts." Slappy winked at Todd, who grinned. He liked this lady. She was odd, and spoke to his mum like she did to him when he'd been bad, but she was friendly, and funny, and could certainly teach him a thing or two about old toon tricks.


	9. 1, 2, 3, mother caught a flea

Abbi stared up at the clock, her tail twitching in irritation. Why was it so slow? Did it purposefully stop working five minutes before recess? She was almost sure it had stopped all together, when Gabby nudged her in the ribs and motioned to look like they were working. She started guiltily as Bugs raised an eyebrow in her direction, and she bent low over her English book. Considering he was one of the most popular 'toons ever, it was odd the kind of reaction he instilled in pupils. It was a kind of fearful respect in most; the kids all idolised him but were deadly afraid of getting on his bad side. Abbi had been sent to him after the incident with Junior, and it had been a worrying experience. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting... in fact, a part of her had been betting on dynamite in her schoolbag, but she didn't get anything like that, which sort of made it worse. She had been marched into his office, while Junior had been sat down roughly in one of the hard, plastic yellow chairs, designed to be as uncomfortable as possible. She had been a little proud of the fact Junior looked very sorry for himself, but any smile was wiped from her face when she was deposited in front of Bugs' desk. He had looked up from a bunch of papers he was signing, and slowly rested his pen in the silver strip at the front of his desk, before knotting his fingers together and looking up at Finster.

"What's up here, Ms. Finster?" He had sounded more curious than suspicious, but he had shot Abbi a quick glance, as if summing her up. Abbi had hid her hands behind her back, and looked at the floor.

"Trouble-makers, Sir." Finster had growled, glaring at Abbi so hard it burned. "Fighting in the playground. The other one's waiting outside."

"It wasn't my fault..." Abbi had mumbled, feeling she should at least try to defend herself.

"You'll speak when you're spoken to, Abigail-"

"Now hold on, Finster." Bugs had raised one hand, not taking his eyes off Abbi. "I'll deal with her, why don't you go keep an eye on the other one. Who is...?"

"Oh... Junior Gregg, sir."

"Ah. Yeah, you keep an eye on em, I'll talk to Abbi."

Abbi had always been a little struck by the fact that Bugs seemed to know everybody's name, or seemed genuinely embarrassed if he couldn't remember. Abbi had pulled her hood further forward over her face, not wanting him to see her blush. Bugs had merely raised an eyebrow, and returned to his papers. There was silence. It seemed to drag on forever; total silence, except the scratching of Bugs' pen. Abbi just stared at her feet, hoping he would just punish her and get it over with.

"Abbi." He had said, eventually. Abbi had looked up from the floor, but found he wasn't looking at her, so she had let her head fall back down.

"Yes, sir..." Her voice was hoarse, and her tongue felt dry.

"How come you and Junior were fighting? I always had it that you two were friends."

"We used to be, Mr Bunny..." She'd stammered, still talking to the carpet. "But since I've started playing with Gabby I guess he doesn't like her or something. And that's why we were fighting." She looked up sharply, a little taken aback to find him staring at her over the tops of his fingers, which were knotted together again with his elbows on the desk.

"You were fighting because he doesn't like Gabby?"

"No... well, yes, but... He came over and started being mean to her and throwing stuff at her, and he was mean to Todd to so... I had to stick up for them, 'cos they're my friends, see, and he was making Gabby cry, and..." She had trailed off, as she caught eye contact with Bugs. He'd held her gaze for a long, awkward silence, before suddenly looking back at his desk.

"Next time, I suggest you tell a teacher and save yourself some trouble. We do have rules about bullying, and we'll be watching Junior closely from now on."

"Yes sir. Thank you, sir." She'd smiled a little, but knew he still had to punish her.

"I'll have to call your parents, as a manner of principle, but that'll be all."

_Really? Sweet..._

"Of course, Finster's a little more old fashioned than me, and will be expecting you to serve a lunch time detention."

"Oh..." _Not Sweet._

There was another long pause, as Abbi watched bugs turn back to his work. Her throat got so dry, it started to itch. Wasn't he going to yell, or throw dynamite, or anything? Her throat was getting worse because of the silence, she was sure of it. She needed to clear it, but she didn't want to make a noise... no, it was no good...

Abbi had cleared her throat, causing Bugs to slowly look up at her, his eyes catching hers again. His expression was odd; on the surface it looked simply questioning, as if he'd thought she was going to say something, but underneath... his eyes were cold, making it slightly threatening. After giving Abbi this look for another awkward silence, he looked back at his papers.

"We're done, now, Abbi. Tell Finster to send Junior in."

Abbi had never been happier to leave a room. He hadn't yelled or given her any long speeches about correct behaviour, but she'd certainly got the message. Don't break Bugs' rules, or there will be trouble.

It was with this thought in mind that Abbi hurriedly scribbled in her English notebook, as she counted the seconds to recess. Over the weekend, she'd been doing a lot of thinking, and she wasn't letting that go to waste. She had a plan, and she was pretty sure Gabby and Todd were going to like it.

"Wow..." Gabby grinned, looking down as Abbi held her backpack open. Todd grinned, as he saw the gleaming red plastic nestling on top of Abbi's notebooks. The three of them were stood near the back of the playground, huddled around Abbi's bag, in an attempt to maintain secrecy. Abbi hadn't said who they had to keep the secret from, only that the royal spies were everywhere.

"Remember what we said, about the king and the queen and their spies watching out for us?" Abbi grinned, her tail twitching with excitement.

"Yeah, but..." Gabby still wasn't sure if she really believed the story. When Abbi spoke about it, it was hard not to get taken in by her enthusiasm, but the story didn't quite make sense. Gabby wrinkled her nose, looking from Abbi to Todd. "We don't know if it's real, do we? It might not be..."

"Ah..." Abbi closed her eyes, and gave a contented smile. "That's what I was thinking about, this weekend. Today's Monday, and the parent-teacher evening is on Thursday. Now, they don't know we know each other-"

"My dad does." Gabby sniffed, looking at the floor. "I talk about you two a lot."

"Yes..." Abbi sighed and rolled her eyes, continuing in an exasperated tone. "But he doesn't know who we are, does he? There's a lot of girls called Abbi and a lot of boys named Todd. Unless he sees us, he won't know who we are, will he?"

"Oh... I guess not..."

"Ok, so what we do is, on the parent-teacher thingy, we each have one of these, see..." She reached into her bag, and removed one of the gleaming red walkie talkies, holding it so the aerial pointed from Gabby to Todd whenever she moved her hand. "And we make sure that our parents are never in the same room, 'cos otherwise they'll figure out what's going on. And you gotta make sure they don't see you either."

"So we use the walkie talkies to make sure we're never in the same room." Gabby grinned, liking the sound of this plan. It was like playing spies. Todd was grinning too, rubbing his hands together, then clapping them over his mouth as he giggled. He was very easily excited, and Gabby guessed he had to do silly actions since he didn't speak. Abbi seemed used to it, and usually either played along or translated for people who didn't understand. Gabby giggled herself, as Todd continued to pull funny faces. Abbi tried to look withering and in charge, but she was smirking herself, so it didn't really work.

"Look, we each take one of these, and put them on channel 1." Abbi handed over the first walkie talkie to Gabby, and took a second one out of her bag for Todd. Todd stopped grinning, and knitted his eyebrows, looking from the walkie talkie to Abbi, before crossing his arms and rolling his eyes.

"Todd, you can listen in on the conversations this way, and knock on the plastic once for yes, twice for no." Todd nodded his head, and stowed the walkie talkie in his pocket.

"Abbi, what if these get lost or your mom and dad ask about them?" Gabby felt warm inside, it was the first time a friend had asked her to look after anything, and it was the first time she'd been involved in a plan.

"I got them two years ago for Christmas. They don't know I've ever used them." Abbi grinned, a little proud of herself. She'd thought through every detail of her plan, and both Gabby and Todd seemed happy to go through with it.

They all packed away their walkie talkies, and walked back towards the school as the bell screamed at them to return to class. The day was passed with much whispering and conspiracies, which mostly went unnoticed by supervising teachers. In the days leading up to Acme Elementary parent-teacher evening, a state of nervous panic grew in a lot of the teachers. The evening was geared as much to show off the school as to evaluate the pupils, with each child being given a list of appointments to pass on to their parents, so they could visit each teacher and receive a personal report. Parents would be free to wander the school in-between appointments, with a lot of rooms decorated with displays, made especially for the occasion. Art lessons were given over to making posters and banners, and the best students in Toon Skills were asked to perform basic routines in the gym. Although Abbi, Gabby and Todd were all asked if they would like to perform, they had decided the plan would fail if they were doing public displays of skill. Gabby was, secretly, very glad of this. She knew Todd did dancing outside of school, and Abbi was part of a drama club, but she herself started to tremble at the thought of being on stage in front of people. She wasn't allowed to ponder this for too long, though, as Abbi had decided the noise of art class to be perfect to cover any talk of their plan.

Yakko sniffed and rolled over onto his side, annoyed that something was interrupting his sleep. Well, he hadn't been sleeping, just... dozing. He wasn't old enough to start falling asleep in the afternoon, and he wouldn't be for some time. Not while he had any say in it. He grunted again as the poking sensation in his shoulder turned into a more pronounced shove.

"G'way..." He mumbled, wriggling deeper into the sofa cushions.

"Daddy... it's six o'clock... parent's evening starts at quarter past."

"Ohh..." Yakko sighed, rolling onto his back, and looking at Gabby. He raised his eyebrows and blinked a couple of times, before sticking his bottom lip out. "I suppose that means we better go, huh?"

"Yes, come on!" Gabby grabbed his hand, and started trying to pull him off the sofa. Yakko laughed at this, toying with the idea of being extra slow, just to wind her up. She wasn't usually this eager... maybe this meant she was enjoying her new school? She'd mentioned some friends a few times, he knew that. Grinning, Yakko rubbed his eyes and grabbed his coat. As he walked through the kitchen, he poured himself some coffee. Gabby ran past, dropping the car keys on the counter for him as she ran back to her room. Yakko raised an eyebrow, but refused to think anymore until he'd had his coffee. After draining the cup, he felt a lot better, and stepped back as Gabby ran through with her backpack.

"Are you really going to need that, Gab?"

"Need what?" Gabby looked very distracted, and was hopping about all over the place. She kept looking up at the big kitchen clock, too.

"Your pack."

"Oh... I... I just want it, is all." She smiled, before running behind him and starting to push him towards the door.

"hey- Hey! Alright, alright, I'm going! Sheesh... I've never known a kid get this worked up about parent's evening..." Yakko shook his head as he grabbed the car keys and walked out of the door, watching Gabby run towards the car. "This had better be worth it."

Dot smiled politely at the horse toon who was sat in front of her, large teeth exposed in a very wide grin.

"Todd is doing marvellously, absolutely marvellously." The horse had a ridiculous accent, the kind of caricature posh voice that makes you cringe a little. "He's finally settled, even if we did have to skip him a few grades, and he seems to be making friends quite well."

"Oh, that's good." Dot smiled, not wanting to risk saying too much in case she burst out laughing. This woman was a child psychiatrist? How had she survived? Scratchensniff had been forced into retirement a year after the show finished, for sake of his own mental health. She shot a sneaky look at Todd, who was sat on one of the orange plastic chairs beside her. He looked as though he was trying hard to sit still and be good. Dot had seen that look many times before. Still, Todd seemed to have managed, for his credit, to put up with regular meetings with this woman and not drive her crazy... at least he was showing restraint.

"Of course, there was that one incident with Junior MacFarlane, but that seems to be a one off-"

"Incident?" Dot snapped back to the conversation, her eyebrows raised and her eyes stony. "What incident?"

"Junior was caught teasing Todd and his friends, but the boy was punished and there seems to be no more trouble."

"Oh... well, I suppose that's ok. Todd, why didn't you tell me?"

Todd smiled and shrugged, making out like it was no big deal. Inside, though, he was angry. Teasing? Junior was "teasing" him and Gabby? That made it sound like he'd just poked them with a feather or something. He felt quite upset by this massive understatement. He felt like breaking his silence, turning to his mother and saying "actually, I didn't say anything about "teasing", because no "teasing" happened. Now, if you had said bullying and violence, that would be a different story."

But he didn't say that. He didn't say anything. Instead, he just let them think he was happy, and let the conversation move on. He knew if he said anything now, it would cause a fuss, and he didn't want that. He had a plan to stick to.

Todd walked along the school corridors with Dot, holding her hand. She was looking around at the displays on the walls, and not at him. Perfect. carefully, he removed the walkie talkie from his pocket, and turned it on. Abbi's voice crackled through at a whisper.

"Watch out... me and Dad are headed to homeroom!"

Todd looked behind him. They were in the homeroom corridor. He needed to get his mother out of there, fast! He suddenly burst into a run, pulling her towards the gym. He knew Mr M, their Toon Skills teacher, would be there, and would keep his mum talking for a while.

"Todd, what the-... slow down, will ya?" Dot laughed, confused. Todd grinned up at her, but looked behind her, and saw Abbi's head poking round the corner at the end of the corridor. They made eye contact, both faces panicked. Todd grinned at his mother again, before tugging hard on her arm so she had no choice but to run to keep up with him.

"Todd, slow down!" She yelped, as she stumbled through the gym doors.

Abbi breathed a sigh of relief as she saw her Dad catch up with her.

"Abbi, you've got to stop running off like that..."

"Sorry dad." She smiled broadly, her hands behind her back, clutching nervously at the Walkie Talkie. "But like you said, the faster we go, the sooner we can get it over with."

Wakko raised an eyebrow. Something was definitely up. What, he couldn't say. He shrugged, and walked past her into the corridor. He would ride the night out, and keep guessing. He knew Abbi was planning something, and he knew he'd be able to figure it out. After all, wasn't he one of the biggest pranksters of his generation? Except maybe the Simpson kid, but he was first generation.... and crazy.

The evening passed fairly well, or so Abbi thought. The parents hadn't met, although there had been a few very close shaves. At one point, she and her dad had entered a room the same moment as Gabby and her dad had left; luckily all that they saw was Gabby's tail flicking round the door corner, but Abbi knew it had been her. Abbi smiled to herself as her Dad shook hands and said goodbye to Mr M. That was the last teacher they had to see, and nothing bad had happened. She'd even got some very positive feedback from various teachers, and at one point Junior's dad had walked over to them, looking very cross. Junior was standing some way behind, dragging his feet. His dad had said he was making Junior apologise to all the kids he had picked on, and wanted them to know he would be punished for getting into trouble. So that delt with that problem . Her dad motioned for her to leave, and they walked out of the gym doors together.

"Man, how can you have that guy as a teacher?" Wakko shook his head and grimaced. "With teeth that big, I'd be afraid he was going to eat me." Abbi laughed, and slipped her hand into his.

"Can we go home now?"

"Yeah, just gotta use the restroom before we go... Where's the nearest one?"

"By the teachers lounge. I'll show you." Abbi grinned, leading her father towards the teacher's lounge. However, as she rounded the corner, she stopped dead. Todd was standing outside the ladies' bathroom, and looked terrified when he saw her. If he was outside, that meant his mum must be...

"Uhhh I just remembered, these ones don't work too well." Abbi spun round, trying to keep her dad out of sight of the toilet doors. She hoped Todd was doing the same.

"Don't work? What do you mean?"

"Uhh... there's... uhhhh... no.... handle! There's no flush handle, so you can't flush them!"

"Really?" Wakko stood back, arms folded. Abbi's eyes were darting all over the place, and her hands kept clutching at her sleeves, her jeans, and each other. He could spot a lie when he saw one. But why lie about the toilets?

"Yeah... they smell really bad, too!"

"Well, I'll take my chances." Wakko picked her up and turned around, putting her down behind him. Abbi wasn't to be deterred though, and grabbed hold of his waist. "Abbi! What are you doing?"

"I just want a hug, dad, that's all..."

"Well, hug later, I need to use the restroom."

"But Dad-"

He managed to prize her off, backing away from her. He turned round and walked towards the men's room, but never got there. At that moment, Todd darted out of the ladies' room, and ran straight into him, falling over. Wakko jumped backwards, and tried to help him up. Todd looked up at him, and Wakko was stunned. It was like looking into a mirror, except rather than seeing himself now, he was seeing himself years ago... For a moment, he and Todd looked at each other, amazed. Eventually, Todd scrambled to his feet and ran past, to Abbi. Wakko stood, but was too shocked to move. Suddenly, a shout from inside the ladies' room broke the silence.

"TODD, FOR THE LAST TIME-" Dot burst through the door, but came to an abrupt halt as her eyes met her brothers.

For all the years they'd belonged to a stranger, Dot knew them better than anything. For a brief moment, she thought it wasn't real. It was a dream, it had to be. She hadn't seen either of her brothers in the better part of a decade, and now... here he was. Standing there, right in front of her, staring at her with wide, shocked eyes. He'd changed over the years, but only physically. She knew. She just knew. She let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, and moved her hand to her mouth, as she felt a sob build up inside her. For his part, he looked as though he wanted to speak, but had forgotten all the words. Hesitantly, he stepped towards her. He reached out, and touched her shoulder. Gently, at first, but soon he was resting his whole hand on her shoulder. Dot tightened her lips, but couldn't hold it in any longer. Her face crumpled into sobs of joy as she threw her arms around him. After a bewildered second, he hugged her back. She sniffed, and managed to regain her composure, but there were still overwhelming emotions bubbling beneath the surface. Wakko started to laugh, and rock from left to right as he hugged her. She started to laugh too, although it was still strangled with the remnants of tears. Eventually, he leaned back enough to look at her.

"My adorable baby sister..." He muttered, a wide grin across his cheeks. "I thought I'd lost you, sis."

"Don't be silly." She smiled back, trying not to giggle. "You know I never give up that easily."

"Wow..." Abbi muttered, not tearing her eyes away from the hugging parents. Todd, likewise, nodded slowly. Weirdest parents' evening ever.

"Hey." Gabby smiled, walking up behind them. "What's going on?" Abbi and Todd pointed to their hugging parents, still a little shocked. Eventually, though, something stirred in the back of Abbi's memory, making her look at Gabby with confusion.

"Where's your dad?"

"Oh, don't worry, he went outside to call my mom. And... Oh no! Guys, he'll be here in a minute! I should go and-"

"Forget it." Abbi shrugged, her eyebrows raised in a resigned confusion. "I think we should just sit back and watch what happens. It can't get any weirder."

Abbi's words dragged Wakko back to the present, making him break away from Dot. He looked over at the two kids standing next to her, all bearing a strong resemblance. Slowly, he wiped the tears away from his eyes, and tried to clear the lump from his throat.

"Dot... You haven't introduced me to the kids."

"Well, Todd is mine. What about your two?"

"Two?" Wakko's brow furrowed. "No, only Abbi, in the blue."  
"But then... "Both Dot and Wakko's eyes fell on Gabby, who blushed furiously, before dropping her eyes to the floor and gripping her hands behind her back. She was saved the trouble of speaking, though, as Yakko walked through the main doors, not looking up as he stowed his cell phone away in his pocket.

"Gabby, your mother says Hi and Well done. I know ya wanted to talk to her, but-" He stopped dead, looking up for the first time to see the two toons stood in front of him. Toons he had spent years dreaming about. Dot's eyes grew wide as she saw him, and her jaw physically dropped. Wakko was looking the other way, but when he saw Dot's expression, he turned around. He almost did a double take when he saw Yakko standing, one foot on a lower step, directly in front of him. Yakko's eyes darted from one to the other, unsure of what to do or say. He had wished for a moment like this for years, prayed for it... now, here he was and he didn't have a clue what to say. Every second they stood there in silence, the atmosphere grew thicker, until it became almost unbearable. Eventually, Dot started to smile, nervously.

"Never thought I'd see you speechless." She and Wakko said, in unison. Like a pebble breaking the surface of a pond, ripples of laughter spread through the Warner siblings, slowly growing stronger and more confident. Dot rushed towards Yakko and they hugged, her resting her head on his chest and he kissing the top of her head. Wakko grinned, grabbed his brother by the hand, and pulled him towards where he was standing, so all three ended up hugging together. Abbi, Gabby and Todd simply stood back, speechless.

"Aha..." A voice cut in from behind them, as the teachers' lounge door creaked open. Breaking apart from each other, the Warners' expressions changed from confusion to shock and finally to joy as they saw the familiar principal of Acme Elementary, standing in the doorway wearing a black suit and white shirt, and holding an empty coffee mug in one hand and a carrot in another. He looked from the elder Warners to the younger ones, a proud smile playing round his lips. "I knew those kids were familiar... It's obvious once you know the answer, ain't it?"

"Bugs!" Dot grinned, almost jumping for joy. Bugs smiled at her, before standing back and motioning them inside.

"Looks like we got a lot of catching up to do." He smiled as each of the Warners walked past him, into the teachers' lounge. Abbi, Gabby and Todd hesitated in the corridor, unsure of what to do. This had not been part of the plan. Bugs stepped towards them, bent low and grinned.

"I'd get in there quick, if I were you." He whispered, pointing back inside the room. "Something tells me you won't want to miss this..."


	10. Family Fortunes

Wow! I can now officially say my story has recieved "rave reviews" even if "rave" is short for raving looney. Don't worry, you're speaking my language ;)

Quick thanks to my new beta for agreeing to check over my accents.

Read on!

Chapter 10

The Warners sat on the overstuffed blue lounge chairs, gazing with politely masked horror at the magnolia coloured walls of the teachers lounge. What a lovely place for a family reunion... Abbi, Gabby and Todd slowly walked over to their respective parents, looking from each other, to Bugs, to the walls, and then back to looking around the little group. Bugs walked past them, and pulled up a chair of his own, a comfy looking office chair.

"I'd offer you some coffee, but the pot is busted." He smiled, before crossing his legs and looking from one Warner to the next. "You know, I really am kicking myself for not making the connection sooner. You kids have certainly aged well, I can tell you that much." He leaned back, and began to chew on his carrot, eyes nonchalantly flicking from one face to the next. "Ehhh... Is anyone else gonna talk, or will I have to do it all myself?"

Yakko opened his mouth. It seemed right that he should be the one to talk first... but what could he say? Scratching the back of his neck, he closed his mouth again and sat back, looking at the floor. A thousand half-formed sentances began to tumble through his mind, but he was interrupted by a gentle tugging at his elbow. He looked down to see Gabby.

"Daddy?" She whispered, her brow furrowed in confusion. "What's going on?"

"Yeah." Abbi piped up, clambering into Wakko's lap. She looked him straight in the eye and pouted. "We wanna know what's going on!" Todd nodded enthusiastically, poking his mother's arm. Wakko cleared his throat, eyes flicking nervously from Yakko to Dot, and then to Bugs. Eventually, he took a deep breath and put his hand on Abbi's shoulder.

"Abbi, this is Yakko, my brother... your uncle... and this is Dot. My sister... your aunt." He gave a small, nervous smile as Abbi looked from one new relative to the other. Dot gave a small, awkward wave, before clearing her throat and picking up on her brother's cue.

"Todd, meet your uncle Yakko and your uncle Wakko."

Yakko looked down at Gabby again, and forced a smile through his shock. "Say hi to your family, kiddo."

Gabby's brow furrowed again, before she turned and looked around the assembled faces. Eventually, she turned back to her dad.

"So... Abbi and Todd are my cousins?"

"Yup." Yakko nodded, watching her carefully.

"Cool!" Abbi cut in, before climbing off her dad's lap. "Except... how come you never said anything about it?"

All three Warners drew an awkward breath, and slowly raised eyebrows to Bugs for help, making sure not to meet eye contact with each other.

"Oh no." Bugs half laughed, looking up from his carrot. "You got yourselves into this mess... besides, I'm as clueless as the kids." He shrugged, and shot a wink at Abbi, Gabbi and Todd, who had grouped together in front of the three Warners, sat on the floor cross-legged, and looked as if they wouldn't budge until they had answers.

"Well..." Yakko spoke, slowly at first, trying hard to control his motormouth. "Before you kids were born, we all had a big argument and a falling out. Then we moved away from each other and couldn't find a way to get in contact and say sorry, so it all kind of spiralled and this is the first time we've seen each other in nearly nine years." Damn. It seemed the motormouth had betrayed him again, and so Yakko's gush of words fell into silence, as everyone absorbed the meaning behind them. After a long pause, Wakko chuckled.

"Wow... nearly nine years... dude, you're old!"

"Says you! If I remember right, you'll be hittin the big three-oh next year." Dot quipped, a smirk on her lips. The Warners met each other's eyes, and smiled, slowly looking was a silence again, but this time it felt far more relaxed.

"I'm sorry, sibs." Yakko spoke, his eyes boring into the floor.

"Oh, Yakko..." Dot sighed, but with affection.

"No, this whole mess was my fault. I was in a bad way, and I did a lot of very stupid things... Dot, do you remember that day when we fell out? At TAPA?"

"Yakko, I-"

"Do you?"

Dot paused, before taking a deep breath. "Yeah."

"Do you remember what you said to me?"

"I... no, not exactly..." Dot laughed slightly, if only to make herself feel more comfortable.

"You said I was being a fool; trying to wind you up so I could make believe we were kids again and I had to look after you. Do you remember now?" Dot nodded. Yakko leant forward, and looked at her intently, wanting her to turn her head so he could see her eyes. "You were right. Everything was slipping away from me; first the job, then you... both of you..." Dot turned to look at him, and he held her gaze for a moment, speechless again. He tore his eyes away to look at Wakko, who was sitting very still. "I was... beyond being a jerk. I just... I lost control. For years I'd been the one in charge, and there you guys were, living your own lives, about to leave... And I was struggling to keep my job. I just wanted things back like they used to be... I know it's no excuse, really, but..." He fell silent, leaning back in his chair again and dropping his eyes to the floor. He felt like scum. There was another silence, before Bugs cleared his throat.

"If I may say something? It always seemed to me that you kids got along better than any other kids I'd ever met. Now, I was on the lot with you for ten years, more or less, and I don't think I ever once saw you fight. Bickering, yes, petty arguments, but not fights. Now, my theory... and bear in mind this is just a thoery," He began to swivel in his chair slightly, taking some of the intensity out of the situation. "Siblings, by way of being siblings, have to fight at some point. It's inevitable. I remember major bust ups with several of my own brothers and sisters... but because you guys were so good for so long, all the energy kind of got pent up, and then just exploded."

"Bugs." Dot smiled, shaking her head slightly. "That's ridiculous."

"Hey, I said it was a theory, didn't I?"

"Well, I think it's silly." Abbi stuck her chin out, turning back to the Warners.

"Sheesh, everyone's a critic..."

"Not you, Mr Bunny. The argument and stuff. I mean, I thought grown ups were supposed to be all clever and stuff, but to not talk to your own brothers and sisters for that long is just silly. Plus, me and Gabby and Todd could have been playing together every weekend if it hadn't happened."

Wakko raised his eyebrows and smiled. Yakko was still staring at the floor. Standing, he walked over to his brother and grabbed him by the shoulder, pulling him up to his feet. Looking him in the eye, he grinned.

"Well, I guess they told us, eh big brother?"

Yakko slowly started to grin, before laughing, and putting his hand on Wakko's shoulder too.

"I guess so, baby brother."

"Ahem." Dot cleared her throat, standing up and raising an eyebrow, pushing in between her brothers. "I hope you aren't forgetting someone."

"We would never!" Yakko grinned, a note of mock incredulity in his voice.

"Not even if we tried." Wakko muttered, earning a slap on the arm from Dot. He laughed, and winked at her. "After all, what are the Warner Brothers without the Warner Sister?"

"Talentless and ugly!" Dot giggled, as she and her brothers started swapping insults and silly faces.

"Enough of this small talk!" Yakko grinned, breaking away from the group and swinging Gabby round into a piggyback. "I say we go and get some celebratory pizza!"

"You know me too well!" Wakko joined in, laughing as Abbi began to bounce excitedly. The Warner Brothers and their offspring left the Teachers Lounge, but Dot hung back for a moment, looking at Bugs.

"How much of this did you honestly have planned?" She smiled wryly, as Bugs stood up quickly.

"I don't know what ya mean, toots." He winked at her, before turning to the teacher's lounge kitchen. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of coffee mugs to wash up before I go home."

Dot smiled at his back, knowing the rabbit had had some hand in the night's events, but she said nothing, and ran out after her brothers, grinning as Todd raced her to catch up with them.

Yakko and Dot grinned at each other as they leant back on the hard red plastic of the pizza restaurant's chairs. Neither of them had eaten in a place like this for years. They remembered the last time they'd come here was Dot's 18th, after being hit with a wave of nostalgia. It had been their favourite restaurant as kids. The yellow walls and white plastic tables hadn't changed, and the discontented teenage workers looked just as surly as ever. Ah, memories. Gabby sat to the left of her dad, and Todd to the right of Dot, whilst Wakko and Abbi pulled up chairs from another table and sat on the outside edge. Abbi began reading through the menu, her brow furrowed as she mumbled the words to herself.

"Pep... Pepper..."

"Pepperoni?" Wakko offered. Abbi shot him a glare.

"I was going to say that!"

"Ok, sorry..." Wakko held his hands up and bit back laughter as his daughter continued to plow through the menu. Yakko looked at both his siblings, pride welling in his eyes. He tapped his fingertips on the table, unable to hold back all his questions any more.

"Ok, enough of this, I wanna know what you guys have been doing! I mean I'm an uncle. Twice! And I've never even been to a wedding yet! Who, how, when, where-"

"Yakko!" Dot giggled, caught up in her brother's energetic questions. "One at a time. But I want to know too!"

"Oh, nu-uh!" Wakko shook his head, giving Dot a playful glare raising his eyebrows. "Ladies first, Dot. Exactly how old is the young gentleman sat next to you, bearing in mind you can't be any more than twenty seven."

"I'm twenty six." Dot corrected, blushing. "And Todd's four and a half, if you must know."

"Four? But that means..." Yakko furrowed his brow, looking at her. "You were twenty two when you had him. You must have gone straight from TAPA... oh god... he doesn't have any older siblings, does he?"

"No! Yakko!" Dot laughed in half-shock, shaking her head at Yakko's instinctive protectivity. It was like he'd never been away. "If you must know, I did three years at TAPA, then work experience and started my career, then I met Graham. We dated for a year, got married..." She trailed off, looking at Todd.

"Graham?" Yakko continued, his eyes narrowed. He vaguely remembered declarations he'd made earlier in their lives, along the lines of "she'll be locked in her room 'til she's 35, and surrounded by an electric fence..." He and Wakko had both been very protective of Dot, especially during her teenage years. It was weird to think of her as a woman now, grown up with her own child, married. Dot was giving him a familiar glare, daring him to ruin the moment. Quickly, he constructed a follow up. "Uh... sounds nice. Graham what?"

"Strizlecki."

The Warner brothers both had to clamp their jaws shut to stop a rather loud laugh from escaping. Unfortunately, it had been to spontanteous to stop, and the laugh morphed into a painful snorting noise. Rubbing their noses gently, Wakko and Yakko continued to giggle.

"Dorothy Angelina Strizlecki." Wakko sounded the name out, a huge grin on his face. "It suits you."

"Oh, grow up." Dot scowled, batting him on the arm, but having to stifle a smile as she did it. "Anyway, what about you and-"

"I know what I want!" Abbi announced, slamming her menu shut with no small amount of pride. "Pepperoni pizza with a triple scoop of ice cream."

"Triple scoop's too much, Abbi." Wakko reprimanded, reminded painfully of the last time he'd let her eat that much sugar. Besides, it was too expensive.

"Aw... but it says on the menu, "This week only, free ice cream with every pizza, all-you-can-eat for groups of four or more." So can I, dad, please?" She batted her eyelashes at him, smiling widely. Wakko tried to hold his ground, but caved, as usual. He rolled his eyes and gave a heavy sigh.

"Fine, go ahead."

"Wow." Yakko laughed, over Abbi's triumphant cheers. "Some things never change."

"Some girls got it..." Dot giggled, patting her hair. Wakko, however, was grinning down at the menu.

"Remember the days when "all-you-can-eat" was a challenge?" Yakko and Dot groaned, rolling their eyes.

"You're still a child inside, aren't you?"

"Nothing wrong with that." Wakko grinned, levelling his big brother with a challenging smile. "Five bucks says I can out-eat you."

"You never could, baby bro, and you never will." Yakko laughed, leaning back in his chair. "You may have done the eating on the show, but if I remember rightly I won every contest we had and I never gained weight."

"Times have changed." Wakko waved the comments aside, resting his hands on the table and leaning forward. The kids giggled quietly as they watched. "Your metabolism probably isnt up to much these days, old man."

"Ohh, them's fightin' words." Yakko leaned forward too, his eyes alight with the prospect of a challenge.

"So? Five bucks says I can out eat you, and won't even get a brain freeze."

"Oh, you're on." Yakko grinned, waving over a waitress without taking his eyes off Wakko. Dot just shook her head as everyone placed their orders.

"Boys..." She turned to Abbi and Gabby, who looked slightly confused. "Trust me, they start this way in kindergarten, and they don't get any better."

Todd placed his hands on his hips, pulled a gookie behind his mother's back and giggled as he and his cousins ran off to the play area. He didn't mind, really. He didn't see much wrong with being like his uncles when he was a grown-up. As Abbi dived head-first into the ball pit, and Gabby waded in more carefully, Todd stopped for a second. He wondered if he and his cousins were anything like their parents had been at their age. Looking back over his shoulder as he saw them laughing and talking animatedly, he grinned and dive-bombed into the ball pit, keeping an eye out so he didn't miss the eating contest.

Dot sighed, flicking her brothers' arms.

"Honestly. Does machismo have to ruin every tender moment? I want to hear about you guys! I told you about Graham!" She found herself slipping back into the pout she'd used as a child, whenever she wanted to wheedle information out of them. From the smile in Yakko's eyes, she could tell he'd picked up on it too.

"Wakko?" He grinned, leaning back in his chair. "How about you next? Is Abbi...?"

"Tellulah." Wakko blushed a little, but felt a proud grin creeping acros his cheeks. He saw Yakko falter a little, and remembered vividly the last time he and Tellulah had spoken. "Don't worry, bro. In a way, you helped. I got up the guts to move in with her officially, and after that..." He smiled again, the scruffy black fur above his forehead falling forward into his eyes.

"Aww..." Dot squeaked, grinning excitedly. "Look at you, all grown up! Talking about your wife... We've gone a whole conversation without a fart joke." Yakko laughed as Wakko pulled a face at Dot, before letting loose a loud belch.

"Dot, you should know better than that!" He laughed, patting her shoulder with one hand as he wiped away tears of laughter with the other.

"Maybe, but the waitresses don't..." Dot giggled as a waitress walked past, giving them a strange look. The Warners bit their lips, trying to supress fits of giggles. Eventually, they gave up, and let the laughter wash over them, relishing, for the first time in years, the feeling of being totally and completely happy. Eventually, Dot calmed herself enough, and looked at Yakko.

"And what about you? You never seemed the type to settle down that easily."

"Yeah, who did you end up with?" Wakko sat forward, eyes shining. "Anyone we know?"

"Eeeeeehh... yeah." Yakko let out a breath, looking down at the table top, waiting the awkward moment of revalation.

"Oh, let's guess!" Dot grinned, twisting in her seat to try and find Gabby. "Hmm... Ok, is it someone from the studio?"

"Yeah... look, Dot, I don't think-"

"Ok...." Wakko started joinin in, gleeful. "Who had buck teeth? Oh my god, was it Elmyra?"

"What- no, it wasn't Elmyra. Look, you're never gonna guess, so just give it up."

"No way!" Dot stuck her tongue out, before grinning again. "Hmm... her tail's quite fluffy... oh, was it Fifi?"

"No, it wasn't Fifi... Not after what Wakko had told me about her, anyway." Yakko raised an eyebrow as his brother went pink in the cheeks. Dot turned to look at him, mouth open.

"Fifi LeFume? You never told me!"

"It was just a one-time thing." Wakko shrugged, scratching the back of his neck. "Anyway, back to making Yakko uncomfortable."

Yakko rolled his eyes, before pulling both his siblings back round to face him.

"Alright, I'll tell you. After we stopped talking, I was really lonely, and phoned an old friend. We got talking, both feeling pretty rejected... and one thing led to another. We headed out to Florida, got married, and, well... you know. But... things didn't work out. We divorced a month ago, and I moved back here. That's it." Yakko was pretty sure he'd said it casually enough, but he was aware of a knot in his throat, and when he looked up, Dot had her hands in front of her mouth. Eventually, she lowered her hands to hold his.

"Oh Yakko..." She pulled him into a hug, and there was silence for a moment. Wakko cleared his throat.

"Who was it?"

Yakko looked up, slowly dragging his eyes up to his brothers. "Babs."

Dot gasped, and Wakko's eyebrows shot up. Yakko, seeing the shocked expressions on their faces, felt his stomach tensing.

"Oh my god... How could she do that? Oh, I never trusted her." Dot scowled, more to herself. Yakko's tense stomach started to shake, moving up his chest."I knew, even on the lot, I knew she'd be trouble."

"Ah, dude, forget her." Wakko shook his head. "She did the same to Monty and the same to Buster about five times over." Yakko's chest was shaking now, spreading up through his throat. A small giggle escaped his lips, growing into a long, hysterical laugh.

"What's up with you?" Dot raised her eyebrows, as her brother fell face down on the table.

"You guys..." Yakko gasped, desparately trying to stop laughing long enough to breathe. He couldn't say what it was, but the situation was funny. Really, really funny. Wakko seemed to understand, because soon he started laughing too. Dot shook her head, her eyes closed, but even she was struggling to keep a straight face. At the point when they were all gasping for breath and trying desparately to stop laughing, the waitress that had given them the odd look came back with their pizza, and tokens for free ice cream. Wakko waved his arm in the air, trying to attract Abbi's attention. Eventually she saw him, and the Pizza, divebombed into the ballpit and told the others. As they laughed and joked over the aroma of cheese and pepperoni, all was well. Everything felt so right; there was a natural rhythm between them all, and they just clicked. Eventually, the pizza finished, and Wakko grabbed the ice cream tokens, wiggling eyebrows at his brother.

"You ready for the main event?" he pushed his chair back, as his brother stood.

"You know it."

They were still exchanging quips as they went to get the ice cream, leaving Dot on her own as the kids ran after them, laughing and shrieking. Dot shook her head and sat back. She knew this, like all other eating contests that had come before, would not end well, but she didn't mind. She was full of love and pride and happiness... the kind of pure joy and contentment that she hadn't felt in years.


	11. Cut a tree and the roots still remain

Ok, it's taken me ages, I know, but there's been lots of stuff happening over the past few months. Anyway, I'm still going, it just took me a while to get motivated. I know a few of you asked me what was going on, and I just want to say I am really sorry if I sounded rude or anything. Just... stuff gets me down from time to time and I tend to get stressy I shouldn't, but I do, and I hope you'll forgive me and carry on reading. But anyway, I'm back, and so are these guys...

They stood outside the school gates, three white-gloved fists almost touching.

"One, two, three!" Was followed by groans and laughter.

"Scissors beat paper, big brother." Dot grinned, patting Wakko's arm as Yakko let Gabby jump up onto his back. "So you better get ordering a Pizza."

"But I've only just cleaned up after last week..." Wakko whined and pouted at Dot, as Abbi and Todd ran around their ankles playing tag.

"Bull, Tellulah did all the cleaning and we all know it." Yakko grinned, smartly sidestepping as Abbi missed Todd and nearly hit him. The Warner clan had gained a new routine since their fateful Pizza reunion. Every Friday for a month, they had played rock-paper-scissors to see who was looking after the kids for the weekend. Yakko had come to call it the "family pot luck", a term not as popular with Dot, but Wakko had found it funny. So far, Yakko had escaped a weekend duty, as it had fallen once to Dot and twice to Wakko, meaning that the eldest was getting a few choice glares at the mention of Pizza. But he just grinned as Gabby hugged his neck, and they all started walking the short distance to Wakko's place.

"I've got to say, Wakk, you've gone right somewhere." Yakko smiled as he looked up at the two storey semi. It was odd to think that his crazy kid brother was living the suburban life. Well, he reminded himself, Wakko had always been a rebel, and it's so much easier to rebel when surrounded with normality.

Wakko's house was white, mostly, with the odd black board at the front of the house, a big green front lawn and a royal blue front door. Go figure. The house looked like something from a kid's picture book, and Yakko had actually been a little surprised there hadn't been a helter-skelter slide fitted to the side of the building. Wakko rummaged in his pocket for the keys, before managing to open the door just as Abbi and Todd were leaning up against it. The house was immediately filled with their noise, and Gabby was soon squirming to be let down. Yakko put her on the floor, and in return her strawberry pack was thrown at him as she ran off to play with her cousins. Grumbling, Yakko rubbed his stomach and hug Gabby's bag on the coat pegs.

"Wakko, could you warn me before you bring your family home?" Tellulah poked her head round the hallway door, her brow furrowed slightly in a mock frown. For a cat that had travelled most of the states and spent time in Europe, she hadn't lost her accent. "Only I'd like to have a chance to get all the hurricane boards out of the basement first." Wakko gave her a sarcastic grin and a kiss on the cheek. Yakko blushed, still feeling a little awkward.

"Um..."

"Oh, lighten up, Yakko." Tellulah fixed him with her big, green eyes, before taking off one of her oven gloves and hitting his arm with it. "I've forgiven you, Wakko's forgiven you. Can you forgive you?"

"Fat chance." Dot laughed, as she eased past them into the sitting room. "It was five years before he forgave himself for not getting me a cake on my tenth birthday." Dot grinned, as she sat down on the red couch, grinning as Tellulah came to sit next to her. Yakko gave another awkward smile, before joining Dot on the couch.

"Who said I didn't get you one?" He smiled wryly, his eyes glinting. "I was upset you didn't get any, but I never said there wasn't one to start with."

"Yeah, right." Dot shook her head.

"Tenth birthday... was that the strawberry one or the one with chocolate butter cream icing?" Wakko mused, grinning as he caught the cushion that flew across the room.

"Why do I have to spend my Friday evenings looking after six children?" Tellulah sighed, rolled her eyes and walked back to the kitchen. Wakko watched her go.

"Hey, you said you found my childish enthusiasm endearing."

"I've said a lot of things, Wakko. A lot." Tellulah grinned, her eyes shining as she joked before sticking her tongue out at him and going back to the kitchen. Yakko and Dot suppressed giggles as Wakko looked on, dumbstruck. He opened his mouth to retort, but Yakko held his hand up to silence him.

"Quit while you're ahead, Wakko."

Wakko sat back in his seat and pouted, as Dot continued to giggle.

"She's right though, we are being very childish."

"And why not?" Yakko raised an eyebrow, smirking. "We are cartoons, and as such, we grow old, but no one says we have to grow up!" He pinched Dot's waist, and she yelped, squirming away from his tickling fingers.

"Oh!" Wakko jumped up, and ran over to a small cupboard in the wall under the stairs.

"Wakko?" Yakko watched his brother, curious.

"I just remembered, I meant to show you guys last week, but the VCR was in the shop..." The words were muffled as Wakko rummaged around in the small cupboard. Eventually, there was a triumphant "Aha!" followed by a more modest "Ow..." as Wakko both found what he was looking for, and hit his head on the cupboard door. Rubbing gingerly behind his ears, Wakko winced at the confused smiles from his siblings, before yelling up the stairs.

"Kids, get down here, you'll want to see this."

"Wakko?" Dot sounded wary. "What have you got?"

Wakko gave a silent grin, holding a finger to his lips as he crossed to the TV and slipped the tape into the VCR. As Abbi, Gabby and Todd came in, the lines of white fuzz ran over the double-time adverts.

"What are we watching?" Abbi grinned as she sat down on the floor cross-legged. Wakko joined his siblings on the couch, and sat back. As the screen went black, he hit the play button. Then came that oh-so-familiar music. Yakko and Dot erupted into laughter and gasps.

"Oh my god, where did you find this?" Yakko grinned, as the theme music blared through the house.

"Daddy, is that you?" Gabby asked, pointing at the screen. Dot just laughed as Todd sat, open-mouthed.

"Oh God..." Tellulah groaned, coming in from the kitchen. "I was wondering how long it would take. Guess what, Abbi? Your father's been a clown since he was your age."

"Oh, quiet." Wakko tried not to laugh as he looked up at Tellulah's unimpressed features. "I remember someone admitting they had been elected chair of my official fan club at age ten." Wakko grinned as Tellulah blushed, smirked, and joined him on the couch.

"This is your family inheritance, kids." Yakko grinned, his eyes fixed on teh screen as they clouded with nostalgia.

"But that doesn't mean you're allowed to imitate any of this without our consent, guidance and permission." Dot tried to regain a stern face.

"Or without our tips on proper mallet control." Wakko muttered, as the quiet giggles subsided with the theme music.

"_those are the facts."_


	12. without a dingdong thing on my mind

Big news always seems to come in groups. However, as Yakko let himself be lead through an unknown building with his eyes shut, he wasn't aware of how much big news was about to unfold.

"Come on, Dot, just give us a clue..." Wakko laughed, as he bumped into Yakko.

"Ohh no, the pair of you can keep your eyes shut." Dot smirked as she watched her brothers stumbling around the lobby. "Todd, go on ahead and knock for us." Todd grinned and nodded, darting into the garden space. When he reached the tree with the blue door, he turned around and watched as his mother lead his uncles slowly into the garden. Abbi and Gabby were supposed to be helping, but they didn't really know what was going on either, so they were playing a silly game of flicking their dads' tails and generally winding them up.

Todd knocked on the door, and heard the crotchety grumbling as Slappy eased the door open.

"Ah, Todd." Slappy looked down at him, surprised but smiling. "I didn't know you were coming over today. Where's yer mom?"

Todd grinned up at her, tipped his hat, and turned back to point down the path. Slappy looked up, and saw two other children, a little older than Todd, running towards them. She raised her eyebrows as Dot rounded the corner. Three kids? Dot was grinning like the cat that had the cream, and Slappy's jaw dropped as she saw why. Dot lead her two brothers by the hand. Sure, they were taller, older... a little less fuzzy... but you couldn't question those faces. Slappy smirked to herself, gripping the handle on her cane a little tighter. She shuffled slowly to meet them.

"Dot..." Wakko moaned, waving his hand around in an attempt to find Dot. "Can we open our eyes- Abbi, get off!"

"How'd you know it was me?"

"Gabby wouldn't be as annoying."

"Don't count on it." Yakko smirked, as his ears perked up. He heard a shuffling, someone clearing their throat.

"Ok... open your eyes." Dot grinned, as Wakko and Yakko blinked, their eyes adjusting to the light.

"Well, well. Ten years since I last seen you boys, and I bet you still won't pay me back that sixteen fifty I gave you for gas." Slappy let her smirk grow as the Warner Brothers finally felt the dawn of realisation.

"Slappy!" Yakko laughed, a small part of him amazed that the squirrel was still alive.

"What, no hug?" Slappy chortled, and both Yakko and Wakko rushed forward to hug their old friend. "Well, come inside, you can help me with the plans."

"Plans?" Wakko asked, looking around as they entered the old tree.

"For the fifteenth." Slappy looked around, rolling her eyes as it became obvious the date meant nothing to them. "Well, it's nice to know I'm appreciated. Wakko, you still with Tellulah?"

"Um... yeah. We-"

"What day did you two meet?"

"Well you should know." Wakko laughed, eyebrows raised. "It was February fifteenth, at your... oh..."

"Welcome to the conversation." Slappy shook her head, lowering herself into her armchair.

"Your birthday." Yakko finished, catching on. Todd leant over the arm of Slappy's chair, grinning at her. Abbi followed, but Gabby stood behind Yakko's legs, more cautious.

"So, who's who? You look like a respectable scruff-bag." Slappy nodded at Abbi, who stuck her chin out.

"I'm Abbi. Who are you?"

"Abbi." Wakko tried to be a disciplinary parent, but Slappy waved him aside.

"Nah, the kid's got a point. I'm Slappy; I used to work with your parents."

"Were you on TV?" Gabby smiled, slowly growing braver.

"Ah, so they've told you about the show, huh? Well, Todd knows a lot about my cartoons, don't you, buddy?"

Todd grinned and nodded. He liked Slappy. She was funny, and was one of the only adults that didn't act like it was a big deal that he didn't talk. He grinned even wider as Slappy reached over the side of her chair and rummaged in her bag, removing one of her videos.

"You set your eyes on that, you'll see." She smiled proudly, giving the video to Todd. "I got years more experience than your parents, that's for sure."

Abbi, Gabby and Todd sat down obediently and watched the grainy old film. Slappy grinned as the three kids started to smile, before looking at their parents.

"Well sit down; you're making the place look messy." Yakko, Wakko and Dot sat down obediently, each aware of the feeling that, no matter how old they were, Slappy would always be able to have some control over them. "So, you kids are all back together again. I knew you wouldn't stay mad. How long was it?"

"Eight years. Nearly nine." Yakko ducked his head, bashful.

"Really... I guess I owe Skippy five bucks..."

"What?"  
"Eh? Don't mumble, Dot, it ain't becoming." Slappy cleared her throat, shooting a wink at Wakko. "So, since you're all friendly again, I don't suppose you'd help an ol' lady out?"

"Depends what you had in mind." Yakko raised an eyebrow, smirking. "I remember the last time I helped you out without checking first. I was watching strawberry punch out of my hair for a week."

"I don't know what you mean. I'm old, my memory's bad."

"Then you won't want that five dollars back?" Yakko smirked, as Slappy grinned at him.

"It was six twenty five, and with interest I expect ten. At least." She shook her head. "Anyway, quit distractin' me. I'm gonna be ninety years young this year and I'm planning a big party."

"Ninety? Gosh-"

"None of that, Dot." Slappy waved Dot's exclamations away. "I'm still old enough to take care of myself, and I can't see that finishing any time soon. Now, I was planning on inviting a load of my friends from here in the home, and everyone I can round up from the set."

"The old Animaniacs crew?" Wakko gasped. "Sounds cool. You want us to hand out invites?"

"Nah, Skippy's an agent these days; he's got the inside track." Slappy sounded matter-of-fact, but all the Warners picked up on the slightly bitter tone on the word "agent". Slappy had never been fond of agents, and had been in quite bitter arguments with most of the agents present during any filming, even taking on various other cast members herself. It was something to do with taking money, or a bad experience with her own agent long ago. No one was sure. No one dared ask.

"Nah, I was wondering..." Slappy was momentarily distracted as the kids burst out laughing. She looked at the screen, smiling nostalgically as a young Slappy showcased her award-winning dynamite production skills. "You keep practicing, kids, one day you can do that too." She smiled, partly at the cheers from the kids, partly at the grimaces from the Warners. "Anyway. You guys really would be saving my bacon."

"What, Slappy?" Wakko sat forward, smiling.

"D'you recon you guys could provide some entertainment? I mean... I know you guys ain't sung together or anything like that since before madam here went off to college, but it would mean a lot to me."

"Aww, Slappy!" Dot giggled. "Are you getting sentimental?"

"Not at all, I just want someone who I can call a friend and who'll do the gig for free."

Slappy grinned, and the Warners turned to each other. Yakko looked a little weary, but Dot seemed more open-minded.

"What do you think?"

"Would be cool. I say it's time for a reunion gig." Wakko grinned. "If the Spice Girls can do it..."

Yakko looked from one sibling to the other, and a slow smile grew across his face.

"Alright then. We'll do a few songs, dances, maybe a couple of skits." Yakko nodded, grinning. Slappy smiled, seeming a little relieved.

"Hey, maybe the kids could get involved."

"Yeah!" Grinned Abbi, twisting around. Todd rolled over onto his back and stuck his thumbs up in the air. Gabby, however, seemed to shrink back from the circle they had formed. Yakko noticed this, and their eyes met. Gabby looked up at him, trying hard to say with her eyes how much she disliked the idea of performing anything.

"Well..." He said, smiling reassuringly. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Three days later, Yakko was sat at the piano, gazing out the window and close to bashing his head on the keys. Why had he agreed to this? Writing Slappy a birthday song in two weeks. In itself, it wasn't a task, but the fact that the three Warners had somehow come up with the idea of making a compilation of Slappy's favourite songs through the years, with a song or two from each decade made the task trickier than it needed to be. Dot was writing a few sections of speech and insight, featuring historical events and important events in Slappy's life.

Biting his lip, Yakko looked at the sheets of music he had so far scribbled upon. 1919 to 1929. Slappy was born to one of the first 'Toons ever created. Her mother, who had taken a shine to managerial work rather than performing, encouraged Slappy's musical, madcap talents and introduced her to the world of Vaudeville. Yakko had chosen "Look Out for Mr Stork" from Dumbo, which was supposed to melt into "The Entertainer". He and Wakko would sound good on the vocals, but transitions were more difficult than he'd thought. Ok, next decade...

1930 to 1939. Slappy was one of the many entertainers who provided relief by putting on charity shows. Slappy also beat both Chico and Harpo Marx at poker. This was one of her favourite stories, and one of Slappy's more legendary exploits, so it made sense to reference it. Yakko had momentarily filled in with "The Lady is a Tramp", as one of the most popular songs of the decade, but he wasn't sure if it was a little inappropriate. 1940 to 1949; Slappy as a part of the war effort. Hmm... Dare he mention her first marriage to Sam? Sam, cousin to Screwball Squirrel, who had married Slappy? He put a couple of bars in brackets, ready to cut after some outside consultation. Meaning "We'll meet again" could be cut, but he had cheekily snuck in a few bars of "On the Home-front We're Marching Along", so there was a little comedy. 1950... blank. No ideas at all. Except for Sam's death. Perhaps not the best subject for birthday talks.

Yakko rested his head on the keys, groaning as the piano made a jarring, mournful noise.

"Inspiration has died."

"Aww, daddy." Gabby entered the room, wrapping her arms around his waist. "You want some juice? Our teacher says that having juice breaks make your brain work better."

"I think I need something stronger than juice..." He muttered, smiling as he sat up and hugged Gabby. "You been doing your homework?"

"Mhmm." Gabby nodded, smiling. "All done."

"Sounds like lunchtime to me." Yakko grinned, and he and Gabby made their way to the kitchen. Yakko had just started looking through the fridge to find some food, but was interrupted by the angry buzz of the doorbell. He rolled his eyes, and made his way to the door, still holding on to a loaf of bread. Gabby followed, trying to take a slice from the bag while Yakko was walking.

"Gabby, get out of there!" he laughed, but she just grinned at him and started tearing small chunks off the slice and stuffing them into her mouth. Yakko shook his head, and opened the door.

"Sorry- Gabby, get a plate... can I help... you..." Yakko trailed off, as he saw exactly who was standing on the other side of the door.

"Hey, Yakk." Babs smiled, looking very awkward. If her fur wasn't already pink, Yakko had a feeling she'd be blushing. Well, good. He cleared his throat, trying not to relish in how uncomfortable she looked, and also suddenly very conscious of how much he'd missed her...

No, no he hadn't missed her... Ugh. He had apparently left his common sense at the piano.

"Uh... hey, Babs. What... what are you doing here?"

"Slappy invited me to her party, I thought I'd use my vacation to come up and... see my number one girl..." Babs waved to Gabby, who had chosen that moment to look round Yakko's legs.

"Mom!" Gabby squeaked, hugging her. Babs picked Gabby up, and raised an eyebrow at Yakko.

"So... can I come in?"

"Uh, sure, yeah." Yakko stood aside, still trying to recuperate from the shock. "Here, come through to the... living room, through here... yeah... We were just about to have lunch... do you want any?"

"Um... I wouldn't mind a cup of coffee."

"Coffee it is." Yakko forced a smile and retreated to the kitchen. How could she look him in the eye like that? How could she turn up like that, unannounced and expecting to be accommodated?

_Of course she can turn up unexpected._ Yakko's common sense interjected._ She's Gabby's mother. You were the one who wanted it to stay amicable._

Yakko wanted to listen to his common sense, but he also wanted to be angry. Dammit, didn't he deserve to be a little angry? One and a half months after the end of eight years of a marriage that could only be described as bipolar, and she returns and expects coffee... which he only then realised he had been slowly filling a mug with. Pouring some of the coffee back in the jar, he was aware of Gabby giving her mother a blow-by-blow account of the past 2 months.

"Sounds like you're having a lot of fun here with daddy." Babs spoke, and Yakko could hear from her voice she was smiling.

"Well it's not just daddy. It's Daddy and Uncle Wakko and Aunty Dot and Abbi and Todd and Mrs Slappy and sometimes Mr Bunny comes over because he's the principal at school but he's also Daddy's friend and-"

"Easy, Gabby." Yakko laughed nervously, carrying two mugs of coffee and a plastic beaker full of orange juice on a tray. "Your mother's had a long trip, let her rest a little. Why don't you get some of your school books, show mom what you've been doing."

"Ok." Gabby smiled, hugging Babs and planting a clumsy kiss on her cheek, before hugging Yakko and whispering, "Don't start arguing again, Daddy."

"I know. I won't, just for you." He smiled, hugging her tight. Yakko watched her go, before sitting back on the couch. "So... Where's Buster?"

"Oh, he's coming up next week." Babs nodded, before they both lapsed into silence.

"How's Florida?"

"It's... nice."

"Sunny?"

"Yeah."

There was another long pause. Yakko didn't deal with long silences very well.

"That's good. Weather's been mad up here, stormy and rainy one minute, sunshine the next. I mean at first, I thought it was just Toon Town weather, you know they say that the weather here matches up with average emotions and stuff, but no one's ever proved it so-"

"Oh cut it, Yakko." Babs held a hand to her temples, before fixing him with a stern look.

"Babs. Why are you here?"

"I wanted to see Gabby before Slappy's party." Babs suddenly looked away, her lips tensing.

"And that's all?" Yakko raised an eyebrow, as Babs tapped her toes. "Babs?"

"Yakk, I'm worried. I mean, what if we ended this too soon? Buster..."

"Stop, nu-uh, stop right there." Yakko stood up, running his hands through his hair, before looking back at her, eyes wide and incredulous. "Is this some sick joke? Babs, we had nearly nine years of the most pathetic, co-dependent... It was a sham, Babs. You and I both know that, I think we always knew that."

"Yakko, I still love you."

"No you don't." Yakko looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "You just don't want to risk another failure with Buster. Am I right?"

"I..." Babs looked away, before throwing her weight backwards on the couch, and putting her hands over her eyes. "I know. I know! What's wrong with me, Yakko?"

"You want security." Yakko sighed, sitting down beside her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "You want someone to keep things the same for you; someone who you know will be timed and scheduled. And I wanted someone to take charge because I couldn't look after myself. We were..."

"Back-ups." Babs finished, looking over at him. "Convenient safety blankets."

"Yeah." Yakko smiled, looking at her. It was weird. There was warmth there, when he stopped being mad at her. Not affection, not attraction, just... warmth. But he knew he wouldn't be able to put up with her for long. She'd say something he'd disagree with (either because of opinion or principle), they'd argue, she'd cry, Gabby would cry... unhappiness all over. But she'd just driven up from Florida; he couldn't just turf her out...

There was a heavy clunk as the front door opened and closed.

"Yakko!"

Never let it be said that Dot had less than impeccable timing.

"Dot!" Yakko leapt up, grinning. "In the living room."

"Yakko, I had the best idea for Slappy's song, why don't we have- Babs!"

Dot stopped short, looking at Babs as though it would have made more sense for there to have been a giant purple elephant at the piano.

"Dot, hey!" Babs smiled, walking forward for an awkward hug. Dot raised her eyebrows at Yakko over Babs' shoulder. Yakko shrugged, grinned, and held a finger to his lips.

"Hey, you know what, why don't you two go out and have a day on the town... catch up."

"What?" Dot cut her eyes at Yakko, looking less than happy.

"Yeah, take Gabby with you." Yakko grinned, walking up to them and putting a hand on each toon's shoulder. "Hey, pick up Tellulah and Abbi, have a girls' day." He grinned, but looked at Dot, pleading. Eventually, her expression softened.

"Sure, sounds like fun. Babs, why don't you go get Gabby ready?" Dot smiled, as Babs ran off to find Gabby. Yakko smiled thankfully, but Dot just smiled, wryly.

"You owe me, Yakko."

Across town, Wakko tapped half heartedly at a calculator, pouring over a sheaf of papers. He tapped an old blue biro against his lip, before choking and rushing to the sink as it leaked on his tongue.

"Gah..." He muttered, holding his head under the kitchen tap. Spitting and spluttering, he then banged his head as Tellulah walked in behind him, making him jump.

"Wakko?"

"Ouch!"

"Oh, Wakko..." Tellulah rushed over to help him, but narrowed her eyes in confusion. "What are you doing?"

"I was doing the accounts." He muttered, grabbing some paper kitchen towel and trying to rub the ink from his lip. "Like you asked. And my biro exploded."

"Oh..." Tellulah looked apprehensively at the messy papers. "Going well?"

"Accounts math is in a world of its own." Wakko grumbled, sitting down at the table and running a hand through his hair. Tellulah smiled, rubbing his shoulders.

"Aww... How about some coffee?"

"Heavenly." Wakko smiled, kissing her hand. Tellulah smiled again, and started to make the coffee.

"You know, Wakko, I think we really need to sit down and talk." Tellulah's tone was bright and breathy, but seemed to be a little artificial. She kept fumbling and almost dropping the spoon she was using for the coffee.

"Everything ok, Lu?" Wakko looked at her, eyebrows raised.

"Um... That depends." She gave a nervous laugh, before cautiously meeting his eye contact. "I..." Tellulah began, but was cut off by a knock on the door. "I'll go get that." She finished, leaving the kitchen quickly. Wakko watched her, completely puzzled. Women. Crazy.

"Wakko, come out here!" Tellulah called, and he followed the sound of her voice. At door, he saw Dot standing awkwardly next to a strangely familiar face.

"Babs!" Wakko forced a smile onto his face, resisting the urge to add "what the hell are you doing here?" Instead, he smiled politely. "Long time, no see..."

"I came up for Slappy's party." Babs grinned, looking a little bashful. Wakko felt a little smug in the hopes that she would be diminished. He knew he shouldn't blame her for Yakko being unhappy, but it was easy to do. "And Yakko suggested all us girls go for a day out."

"So we came to steal Tellulah and Abbi away from you." Dot cut in, fixing Tellulah with a look that read "please don't leave me alone with this rabbit." Tellulah looked around, unsure.

"Uh, sure... I'll just go get Abbi... Wakk, we'll talk later, 'kay?" She smiled, again nervously. What was going on with her? Wakko tried to look reassuring as he kissed her cheek, and grabbed his coat and keys from the rack.

"Tell you what, I may as well go see Yakko, figure out the basic musical number he's no doubt over-complicated by now." Wakko smiled, and Dot grinned at him.

"You still think you could sing Mikado?"

"Not without seriously injuring myself." He grinned, kissing Dot on the cheek, and giving Babs an awkward hug. It's weird enough thinking one of your childhood friends had gone off with your brother, but the fact that she'd also left him made the situation more bizarre. He hugged Abbi as she came running downstairs, zipping up the old hoody that used to be his.

"Pick Todd up." Dot advised. "You guys can all spend some time together, it'll be nice."

"You sure you want Todd to see us as influences in his life?" Wakko grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. "Between me teaching him to belch "Rigolero" and Yakko teaching him how to flirt with the girl who serves at the Krispy Kreme in the food court, I mean..."

"Oh, I'm sure it'll be fine." Dot rolled her eyes. "Some of Todd's good influence may rub off..."


	13. Slugs and snails against sugar and spice

Todd kneeled in front of the coffee table, and carefully removed the shoebox lid. He looked inside at the scrapbooks and photos that filled it, as well as pieces of paper covered in various handwriting styles. He grinned, and replaced the lid. Dot had found the box for him, and said that when all the Warners were next together, they could look through the photos and memories she had kept from her childhood. He couldn't help himself from peeking inside the box, even though he knew none of the pictures would mean anything to him without the aid of an adult. He just sat looking at the somewhat battered red shoebox, and grinned.

"Out of the way, freak." Max spat, bumping Todd in the back with his knee. Todd just glared. He hated Max so much. Especially now his dad was hardly ever around to tell him off. "What's in the box?" Max grabbed at the box, but Todd was quick to pull it away. Max growled.

"What's in the box, freak?"

Todd stood up and walked away, clutching the box to his chest. He thought about going upstairs to his dad's room, but his dad was asleep after a long haul flight from New York and probably wouldn't want to be disturbed. Todd yelped as Max's shoe cut through his thoughts, bouncing off the back of his head. Todd sniffed, but calmly reached down and picked up his hat, struggling with the heavy box.

"Loser." Max spat, before throwing a cushion at him. Todd scowled, but walked away. "Hey loser, I'm talking to you." Max ran in front of Todd, blocking most escape routes with his prepubescent girth. Todd wrinkled his nose as a combination of at least three junk food types mingled in the air Max exhaled onto him. Max grabbed Todd's collar and lifted him up to eye level, his feet now dangling a foot off the ground. "What's in the box?" Todd gulped, before making a snap decision. He adjusted his gloved grip on the box, before swinging his arms round to smack Max across the face with the heavy cardboard container. When he was dropped, Todd fell on his feet and made a dash to the staircase, planning to run upstairs and lock himself in the bathroom. Max was hot on his tail, though... literally, it seemed. Max grabbed Todd's tail, making him yelp in pain, and turn back to face the big bully of a step-brother. Max roiled up both sleeves as he scowled at Todd, the international symbol for imminent pain. Todd's eyes flicked around the room, looking for a quick escape. None... other than... Clutching hold of the box, he ducked between Max's legs, and made for the front door. No way was he letting Max get his grubby, cheet-o stained paws on Dot's memories... on his past... Todd leapt at the handle and pulled open the door, and had to duck out the way as Wakko almost fell forward, the hard surface he was about to knock on having been suddenly removed. Todd grinned up at him, and quickly ducked behind his uncle's legs as Max screeched to a halt.

"Uh... hey... Your dad about?"

"He's asleep... Wakko." Max refused to refer to Wakko and Yakko as his uncles. Fair enough, thought Todd. He hated all of Max's family just as much. He loved his Dad, but he didn't like him very much. He was boring, and always busy with one thing or another. Plus he kept talking to people about Todd, saying something about "tests" and how "special" he was. Todd didn't really get it, but most of the time he wasn't supposed to be listening.

"Cool. Well I was gonna take Todd for a day out... You wanna come with?"

_No... No... Please say no..._

"No it's ok." Max beamed his masterfully innocent smile. "Dad'll be up soon. I think I'll just watch TV 'til then."

"If you're sure..." Wakko started to close the door, giving Max a suspicious look. "Bye, Max..." He backed out and closed the door, before turning to Todd. "I don't like that kid." He took out his cell phone and started texting, before reaching out for Todd's hand and walking down the path. "I've sent your dad a text saying what's going on. Anyway. Your mum's gone off with the girls to have a girly day, so you and me are going over to your uncle Yakko's to annoy him." He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows, sticking his tongue out. Todd smiled and struggled with the shoebox, trying to adjust his hat. Wakko reached down and took the box off him.

"What's in here then?"

"Uhhh..." Dot sighed, as Babs put down a Styrofoam mug of coffee in front of her.

"Milk, one sugar, right?"

"Lifesaver." Dot muttered, drinking gratefully from the cup. As much as she had been determined to dislike Babs as a token of loyalty to Yakko, she was having quite a nice time. Abbi and Gabby had been happy to go shopping, but Abbi refused to try on clothes or shoes as it was "too girly", and neither of the girls wanted to sit still long enough for her, Tellulah or Babs to do any shopping, so now Dot and Babs were at the Starbucks in the food court, while Tellulah was making sure Abbi and Gabby stayed in the nearby play area and didn't wander off. There was no need to lecture them, though. Even as they spoke, both Babs and Dot had one eye trained on the girls. It is the sort of skill only a mother can master, along with selective super-hearing (she'll hear you complaining about her from a mile away, but you could stand in the same room and she wouldn't hear you hint about the new games console).

"Well... we got some browsing done, if nothing else." Dot chuckled appreciatively as Babs slipped into the seat opposite her, sipping at her own coffee. She waved to Tellulah, before pointing at the cappuccino saved for her.

"Dot? I know we haven't spoken much since the TAPA days..."

_Oh god. Here comes the conversation that you've been dreading all day..._

"Are you mad at me about Yakko?"

Dot sighed. She had tried, but she still wasn't prepared.

"I don't know... Not... Mad. Not really. Shocked, I guess. Guilty, a little. Sad that it didn't work out, but at the same time it makes sense. Overall... confused."

"You and me both." Babs smiled ironically. "I was in love with him. I was madly in love with him. He was what kept me going. But... I guess I fell out of love with him. Or I realised the difference between being in love with someone and actually loving them. Do you know what I mean?"

Dot gave her a grim smile. "Unfortunately, I think I do."

"Do what?" Tellulah sat down, still watching the girls in the play area.

"Nothing." Dot breezed, scratching her cheek. "Just... relationship talk."

"Dot?" Babs probed, giving her the patent stare. Dot cringed inwardly. Babs had taken a sort of older sister role back on the set, and though they'd grown apart, Dot had a feeling she'd still have problems lying to her. "What did you mean? Are you and Graham...?"

Dot sighed, but knew she wouldn't be able to stand under the inquisitive looks of both the Warner in-laws. Well... here goes...

"Graham and I are... going through a rough patch." She stared hard at her coffee cup, aware of an uncomfortable heat growing in her cheeks. "He's spending more and more time obsessing over his plays and no matter how many times I talk to him about it, he doesn't seem to understand. I'm starting to think I'm no longer his top priority." She tried to laugh, but it choked in her throat. "And I know Max hates me, and his family are all horrible to me but he doesn't notice, and whenever I try and tell him any of this, I end up feeling like I'm the unreasonable one. I mean, that's not the guy I married. That's not the guy who gave me candle-light dinners and took me dancing. I just..." She sniffed and bit her lip, trying hard to hold back the tears that were springing into her eyes. Babs and Tellulah both cooed affectionately, Tellulah shuffling closer and wrapping her arms around her, Babs getting her serviettes to wipe her eyes on. Dot flapped them away, sniffing and regaining herself.

"No, I'm fine. Forget it."

"Yah, right." Babs looked at her, incredulous. "You shouldn't be bottling this stuff up. That's what made your brother go cra... um... never mind." Babs grimaced as she realised she had yet again put her foot in it. Dot smiled.

"Yakko was crazy long ago."

"So... Tellulah!" Babs grinned, eager to change the subject. "Anything new with you?" Tellulah turned pink underneath her grey fur, and bit her lip. It was her turn to look at the table. She laughed nervously.

"Umm... yeah, actually. I kind of have some news I need to tell Wakko... but I really don't know where to start."

"Big news?" Babs grinned, sensing a juicy story.

"Good news?" Dot raised her eyebrows, praying for a happier twist to their conversation.

"Pretty big." Tellulah laughed again, looking a little uncomfortable.

"But good?"

"Depends..."

"Tellulah." Dot and Babs could see from her nervous smile that she was holding out some secret. "What's going on?"

"Ok..." Tellulah looked from one to the other. "But you can't tell anyone. Promise?" Babs and Dot nodded obediently, and leant in closer. "Well..."

"There are fifty thousand different kinds of animals!" Yakko managed to sing, before breaking down laughing as Wakko pulled a kazoo from his box of props. Yakko tried to play through the song, but knowing his brother had found the box of sound effects meant that it would be an unpredictable performance. Todd grinned from behind Wakko, his nose poking over the lid of the effects box. Yakko shook his head, laughing, before taking a deep breath. "Ok, go again."

Wakko shook his head, grinning, before winking at Todd. "I feel like a mad scientist. Ok, Yakk, when you're ready."

"Why are we even doing this?"

"It was your idea to bring out the box."

"And thus seal my own death warrant..." Yakko sighed, gently playing the funeral march, but flinching as Wakko threw the kazoo at him. Todd ran to pick it up, and gave it back to Wakko.

"Right then." Yakko began over, the upbeat chords of "there's only one of you".

"There are fifty thousand different kinds of animals," kazoo, "And there are fifty thousand more that used to be," cow bell, "there's a hundred million ants and a half a billion plants and a lot of fish down underneath the sea," whoopee cushion. Yakko broke down in giggles again.

"You're useless." Wakko shook his head, giggling himself. "You've lost it."

"I know!" Yakko shook his head, wiping tears from his eyes. "I never used to corpse back on the set."

"You're old." Wakko grinned, sitting on the couch. "Out of practice... not used to having to keep a straight face."

"True." Yakko chuckled, closing the lid on the piano. "Ok, so what now?"

"Coffee?"

"Good idea. Todd, you want a drink?"

Todd nodded, plucked some imaginary item from the air and placed it on his hand, before bringing his other hand down on top of it with a resounding clap, and a look of great concentration.

"Fruit squash!" Wakko grinned, giving Todd thumbs up. Todd nodded enthusiastically.

"Ugh. Two relatives fluent in mime." Yakko shook his head, walking through to the kitchen. Wakko followed him. Todd reached under the coffee table, took out Dot's shoe box, and put it on the couch, opening up the lid. He hoped Yakko and Wakko would have some stories about the stuff inside.

In the kitchen, Yakko started making the coffee. Wakko looked over his shoulder, and spoke quietly.

"So... Babs returns."

"I know." Yakko rolled his eyes, and turned to face his brother. "Apparently, she's in town for Slappy's party."

"Buster?"

"Coming up next week."

"So... awkward much?"

"A little." Yakko raised an eyebrow, busying himself with Todd's fruit squash. "I'm worried about Gabby, though."

"Why?"

"Oh come on." Yakko looked at him, incredulous. "We can hardly be in the same room five minutes without arguing. What if Gabby starts thinking..."

"What? That you're getting back together?" Wakko shook his head. "She's a smart kid. She's just got over the whole divorce, do you think she's going to assume it's all ok?"

"She's a seven year old girl, there's no limit to what her mind can create. Remember when Dot had her imaginary kangaroo? And she made us act like it was real for so long we started to believe it ourselves?"

"True. But this is different."

"We'll see." Yakko muttered, and finished making the drinks. They lapsed into silence as Yakko handed his brother his coffee. "So," Yakko gave an apologetic smile after a long draught from his coffee. "What about you?"

"Fine." Wakko shrugged. "Abbi now wants to take tap classes thanks to Dot and her Gene Kelley films."

"And Tellulah?"

"Fine. Well..." Wakko pulled a face. "She's been acting a little odd lately."

"Like how?"

"Just... odd. It's probably just womens' stuff, which I refuse to understand."

"Wise choice. Come on." Yakko motioned to go back to the living room, where they found Todd kneeling on the couch next to a battered old shoe box. Yakko put the glass of fruit squash down next to Todd, and peeking in the box. "No way!" He grinned, looking into the box. "Where did you get this stuff?"Todd grinned, and tapped the name scrawled on the lid in red marker pen.

"Dot Warner's Special Stuff." Wakko read, grinning. "Stay out."

"Ehh, we never listened to her before." Yakko smiled, reaching into the box and taking out the large photo album that took up most of the space. He sat down on the couch and laid the book on his lap, and Todd climbed up next to him, looking around his elbow. Wakko sat down next to his brother, looking through the old photos.

"Wow..." Dot raised her eyebrows.

"You have to tell him." Babs stated.

"I know," Tellulah said, tapping her coffee cup with her thumbs. "I will."

"Not `will`, _now_!" Babs demanded, and Dot nodded.

"She's right. Come on!" Dot stood up, grabbing her handbag. "We'll get the kids in the car and go over to Yakko's. They should all be there."  
"What, now?" Tellulah blanched. "I don't know if I..."

"You can, you should, you must, you will." Babs poked her in the back, getting her to stand up. Dot had already rushed over to the play area to retrieve the girls, and so they made their way back to the car. Dot shot Tellulah a nervous smile as she slipped in behind the steering wheel.

"Are you going to be ok?"

"I suppose I'll have to be." She smiled back, but Dot saw she was gripping the straps of her handbag tighter than usual.


	14. Poor old Michael Finnigan, Begin again

Tellulah took a deep breath, gazing with wide eyes at Yakko's front door. Never had a rectangle of black wood been so intimidating. She closed her eyes, before knocking on the wood, her white gloved knuckles wrapping smartly. She tugged the corner of her flannel shirt nervously, straightening it over her stomach.

"We're here, Lu." Dot smiled reassuringly, as Babs laid a hand on her shoulder. The three of them smiled at each other, before knocking again. After an agonising pause, Yakko came to the door, grinning broadly.

"Hey, come in." He smiled, stepping aside as Gabby hugged his legs. "You're just in time for a walk down memory lane."

"Oh, did Todd bring the box?" Dot smiled, walking inside with everyone else.

"What box?" Abbi sniffed, looking from one grown-up to the next. She had gotten the feeling that something was being kept from her, what with the low whispers and meaningful looks that were literally going on over her head.

"The other day..." Dot grinned, picking Abbi up and walking through to the living room, "I found a big box of photos from when me and your uncles and your aunt Babs were all on the set together."

"You didn't?" Babs laughed, following through to the living room. "Hey, Wakko."

"Hey." Wakko looked up briefly from the photos, pouring over one of the old albums, with Todd on his lap. "Dot, this stuff is amazing. I'd forgotten half of this..." Todd climbed off of his uncles' lap, running over to give his mother a hug, before looking up at the pink rabbit toon he had not yet been introduced to.

"You must be Todd." She smiled. "Your mum's told me a lot about you." Todd batted his eyes in an exaggerated pose of innocence, before grabbing Abbi's hand and pulling her over to look at the albums. Yakko followed with Gabby, but Tellulah stood in the doorway, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, looking unsure. Babs and Dot exchanged glances, before Dot took the photo album from Wakko.

"Hey, 'Lu why don't you get us some drinks and we can all look through these together?"

"Yeah." Babs gave an unconvincing, fixed smile. "Wakko, why don't you go help her?"

"No, sit down, 'Lu." Yakko started. "I'm the host, I should..."

"No, it's fine." Tellulah cut in, looking at Wakko with nervous eyes. "Wak, can you come in the kitchen, please?"

"Uh... sure..." Wakko looked at his brother, and they exchanged nonplussed shrugs as he left the room. When he entered the kitchen, Tellulah was running her hands through her long, black hair, and moving around the kitchen as though she wasn't sure where to stop, before eventually standing in the middle of the room. Wakko watched her fidget, raising an eyebrow, and leant against the counter, suspecting something was up. He may not be quick off the draw, but as Tellulah looked into those happy, puzzled eyes, she was suddenly reminded very strongly of why she fell in love with him. He plucked an orange from the fruit bowl on the counter, and began to throw it from one hand to the other. "So... I'm guessing this isn't about drinks."

"Shrewd." Tellulah smiled, before exhaling slightly. "You remember when you were looking at our budget, and the taxes and stuff?"

"Yes..." Wakko said, although in reality he remembered giving up on doing the math and instead quoting Marx brothers gags on the subject. He noticed Tellulah was giving him her long-suffering, "I love your boyish charms but your childishness annoys me" look.

"The other day, before you gave up and had to re-do them all this morning, you said you thought the budget would hold up as it was, as long as we didn't make any lifestyle changes any time soon."

"Oh, yeah. That." Wakko continued to throw the orange up in the air and catch it, watching it's trajectory. "So?"

"Well..." Tellulah became fidgety again, pursing her lips like she did when she was thinking how to explain something tactfully. Wakko couldn't help smiling. She had the cutest mannerisms, especially when she wiggled her nose. "You remember when we got Yakko to look after Abbi a couple of weeks ago, and we had an "us" night?"

"Do I." Wakko grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. Tellulah sighed and looked away, fidgeting even more. Wakko continued throwing and catching the orange, but without really focusing on it. Brow furrowed, he watched Tellulah's agitation with a growing sense of unease. "'Lu... What's going on?"

"I'm pregnant, Wakko." She turned to face him just in time to see him completely misjudge a throw, and the orange bounce off his head with a squelch. Her face, set in resolve, became a mixture of shock and laughter as she tried to find kitchen towel to wipe some of the orange goo off his head. "Oh, Wak..."

"Pregnant?" His voice was almost back to the goony, mid-pubescent quake it had been at when she first saw him on TV. He had always been her favourite, even then. She'd first met him six years later at a charity gala at the Warner Brothers Studios, and the first thing she'd done was ask for an autograph. The second thing was simultaneously blushing and regretting it, but Wakko had laughed and obliged... along with a phone number. As she mopped citrus fruit from his head while he attempted to twist round to look at her face, she found herself holding back laughter; partly at the obscurity of the situation, but also at the idea that she had been worried about telling him.

"If you're pregnant... we'll have to change everything! We don't have a spare room. We may not have the money... what do we say to Abbi?"

"Wakko." She laughed, standing in front of him, and putting her hands on his shoulders. She looked into his big, black eyes, and smiled. "We have enough money to refurbish the garage; we can move your music room into there. We do have the money, things will just be a little tight, that's all. We'll work it out. We did it before." She raised an eyebrow, smirking. He smiled back, and hugged her. The both began to laugh. Tellulah laughed and laughed until she felt lightheaded, all the while hugging Wakko and just feeling so glad. Eventually, they stopped laughing, and Wakko took her by the hand, leading her into the living room. Babs and Dot looked up expectantly, and Yakko looked from one grinning face to the other, looking bemused.

"What's going on?"

"Abbi." Tellulah held her hand out, and her daughter hopped off the sofa, clutching a photo.

"Look, look!" She grinned, holding a small, dog-eared photo up. "It's dad when he was my age and I'm already taller than he was."

"That's great." Tellulah cooed, kneeling down in front of her so she could look her in the eyes. "Abbi, listen. Daddy and I have some news for you. We've just found out that, in a few months time, you're going to have a baby brother or sister." Tellulah watched Abbi carefully, smiling as she heard Babs and Dot squeak and Yakko mutter a demand to know why he was the last one to find out. Abbi's brow furrowed, and she looked from one parent to the other. They both smiled back, reassuringly. She turned to Yakko.

"Uncle Yakko, what's it like being the oldest?"

"Pretty good." Yakko chuckled, holding up some of the pictures. "And in seven years time, you'll be worth your weight in babysitting money." Abbi pursed her lips, just like Tellulah, before looking back at her parents.

"Do I get to keep my room?"

"Of course, sweetie."

"Ok then." Abbi turned and went back to the sofa, rummaging through the photos again. Wakko and Tellulah looked at each other, caught a little off-guard by this, but shrugged and sat down with her. The whole Warner clan was crowding around Todd's box, and he couldn't be happier to share in the memories, and hear the stories behind them. Interspersed in the "do you remembers" and "Wasn't that whens" were ideas for Slappy's tribute, to which everyone contributed. Todd really wanted to ask how Uncle Wakko and Aunt Tellulah had just found out they were going to have a baby, since that was a big part of the conversation too. Maybe they'd had a letter telling them about it? He waved the thought away, it would be hard to mime asking where babies came from anyway, and right now, he had a wonderful feeling that it didn't matter. They were all here, and they were all together.

Dot's phone beeped in her pocket, and she sighed as it interrupted one of her favourite stories; how Wakko had been convinced that wearing a dress for one of their sketches did not make him instantly a girl. She looked at the message screen, displaying a string of digital black text from Graham.

"Won't b home 2nite, called in2 emergency meeting. Max is sleeping over friends house. LY, TTY soon xx." She exited the message, and watched as it was instantly saved to an inbox full of very similar entries. Sighing, she put the phone away. She looked up, and saw Tellulah's brow crease with concern.

"Graham's had to go to some script approval meeting. He probably won't be home till late. Still, Max is at a friends' house for the night so I guess it means more time here!"

"Yay!" Cheered Abbi and Dot, but Gabby silently slipped her hand inside Todd's, and he looked at her with confusion. She bit her lip, looking down at the floor, and he began to understand. She knew the look on Dot's face. She knew this was how it would start.


	15. The best days of your life

Todd and Gabby ran up the wooden stairs, their feet scuffing on the floor, giggles echoing around the open, quiet house as they left Dot cooking in the kitchen. Yakko had had to work late, so Gabby had happily skipped home from school with Todd and Dot. Max was visiting his mother in Maine, so the house was silent. Todd smirked to himself, remembering with a guilty joy the look on Max's face as his mother had screamed at him down the phone. Max had been excluded from school until the end of term, after he had learned how to produce dynamite out of thin air in his Toon Skills class, and subsequently had the brainwave to flush a stick down the toilet. Giggling, Todd remembered his Uncle Wakko's reactions when he found out; his uncle had been less concerned about the criminal damage than his parents, and Todd was sure he'd heard both uncles comparing tales of when they had first flushed dynamite, how old they had been, and whether Max was just slow.

That had made Todd feel a little proud. He knew it was mean, but Max was just as mean to him. He sat in the playroom, and smiled as gabby looked around with wide eyes.

"Wow... you have some cool toys..." That was the one good thing about Todd's dad's family. They didn't like his mom, but they adored him, and as a result he had a lot of cool toys, including his pride and joy, a big wooden rocking horse, gleaming white with three grey spots by the tail, and long, waxy black hair for the mane and tail. It smiled down on him regally, and it's old, red leather saddle was shiny and comfortable. Todd loved the old horse, whose name was Archibald, if the scrolling red banner on the neck was to be believed, and judging by the shine in her eyes, Gabby did too. Todd patted the saddle, motioning for Gabby to climb up, and, cautiously, she did so. Todd slowly nudged the horse, and Archibald stirred into motion.

Downstairs, Dot stood in the kitchen, chopping various vegetables to put in the lasagne she was making for dinner. The door slammed, and Dot rolled her eyes as she heard Graham muttering to himself as he took off his shoes. She started chopping with more vigour, the two-tone "thunk" of the metal knife on the wooden chopping block beginning to sound more cathartic. She understood that Graham had been busy, but lately his temperament had moved from irritable towards downright rude. He hardly talked to her, going straight from one meeting to the next, and spending any free time either with his buddies or asleep. She fumed quietly as she cut the vegetables, hearing his voice, right on cue, drifting through to the kitchen.

"Work was hell. Are you cooking?"

"MmHmm."

"I'm going out."

She put the knife down on the chopping board, to save her from throwing it at the wall.

"I'm making lasagne for the kids; I thought you would have wanted some. You remember, you used to say it was your favourite?" She tried to sound upbeat, but her light, breathy voice wasn't matched by the sad shine in her eyes. Used to. He used to say it was his favourite. He used to say a lot of things. Now she seemed to be lucky if he spoke to her at all.

"The kids?" He muttered, walking into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. She looked up at him, his black fur gleaming, where it wasn't covered by his suit. His bushy tail followed inconspicuously, as though ashamed of its' own presence. Did he even know he was a 'toon anymore? "You do remember Max isn't here, right?"

"No, Gabby." He looked at her blankly. Dot rolled her eyes, turning away from her vegetables. "Remember? I phoned you earlier? Yakko had to work so she's having dinner here?"

"Oh, god." He sighed, burying his face in his hands. "Which one's Gabby, the one with the big ears or the one with the big teeth?"

"Graham!" Dot raised her eyebrows at him, feeling insulted on her nieces' behalf.

"Don't start, Dot, I've had a hard day." He looked down at her, sorrow in his eyes, and she let herself soften a little. Toons are very emotive creatures, and tend to have a heightened sense of empathy. When someone is sad, they have an innate understanding, and want to resolve that emotion. He pulled out a chair from the kitchen table, and sat down. She boiled the kettle, feeling sorry for him.

"You want to talk about it?"

"Just this movie stuff." Graham had his eyes closed, and leant back in the chair, as though he were sleeping. "Who knew there were so many people to talk to, just to turn a play script into a screenplay? Ughh..." He sighed, smiling gratefully as she handed him a cup of coffee. "If I have to kiss one more behind, I think I'll just throw it all in."

"You gotta do the schmooze..." Dot giggled, Graham's speech reminding her of her rehearsals with Yakko yesterday. "Or else you'll wind up being yesterday's news." She giggled again, singing along to the tune she had remembered so fondly.

"Dot." Graham sighed, not looking up from his coffee.

"You gotta schmooze 'em while you're talking PR from the phone in your car..."

"Dot..."

"Be the guy who says that I can make you a –"

"Dot!" Graham slammed his fist on the table, causing Dot to freeze in her tracks. He seemed to have shocked himself as, after a tense pause, he gingerly began to rub his temples. "Honey, please, I've had a bad day."

"I'm sorry..." She muttered, shrinking slightly as the cold tension began emanating from him. "I was just trying to cheer you up."

"Well try harder than the dumb songs from a lifetime ago." He still wasn't looking at her, instead, his eyes were closed. "You may be wallowing in the nostalgia, but if I'm perfectly honest, I just see it as arrogant cheese."

Upstairs, Gabby laughed as she helped Todd clamber up onto the horse, sitting in front of her. They both began to urge the horse into rocking, and Todd leant forward in the seat, pressing his hand to his brow.

"We're exploring, Todd!" Gabby giggled, laughing as Todd mimed cheering on the horse. "Across the Sahara, through sunny rainforests and over big purple mountains!" She laughed, as Todd moved to stand up more, but got his foot caught in one of the gleaming steel stirrups. He fell onto the fat red beanbag chair, and looked up, dazed. Gabby giggled, but climbed down off the horse to make sure he was ok. She reached out to help him up, and he pulled her over onto the floor next to him. They both lay there giggling for a bit, before sitting up. Gabby looked around the play room, trying to find something else to do. "What shall we do now? Todd?" She turned back to look at him, but stopped smiling, as she saw he had gone very still. His ears were perked up, and his eyes were narrowed in confusion. Gabby's ears twitched too, trying to hear what he could hear. Voices drifted up from the kitchen, but they were muffled from travelling through such a distance. Gabby couldn't hear exactly what Todd's parents were saying, but it was a tone she was sickeningly familiar with. Biting her lip, she looked over at Todd, whose face was still clouded with confusion as he tried to decode the muffled argument.

"Come on, Todd." She smiled, losing the confidence she had just minutes ago. "Let's play something else." Todd looked at her, but didn't really seem to see her. Instead, he stood up and left the play room. Gabby stumbled to her feet, but he was already at the top of the stairs when she found him. His nose was poking between the pillars of the banister, his white face resting against the dark wood. He looked at her, his eyes watery. Gabby kneeled by him, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He still hadn't said anything, but she knew what he meant. He wanted to be there, even though he knew it would make him sad. He wanted to hear it, just so he knew what had happened, in the unlikely hopes he could help. Gabby sniffed alongside him, as she squeezed his shoulders. She knew how he felt, because she had felt exactly the same.

"For gods' sake, Graham!" Dot was trying hard to control her voice, but she was almost shouting. "I'm sorry I can't read your mind, but I do all I can to make you happy. If you're a miserable old fart then that's not my fault."

"I'm not old, Dot, you're just immature." Graham countered, in the same tone. Gabby could only hear Todd's parents, but she had a feeling they'd see them soon.

"I'm immature?" Dot repeated, and there was a heavy, resounding sound as a pan was dropped on the kitchen counter with more force than was needed. "No, you know, I'm not immature. I'm just trying to enjoy my life, I'm just trying to have fun."  
"Oh, and you enjoy your life by sitting in your divorced brothers' apartment and singing songs from a TV series that ended over a decade ago?"

"Don't hide your feelings, Graham, say what you really think." Gabby flinched, remembering the amount of times her dad had addressed her mother with a similar tone.

"I just don't see the point in you sitting there wallowing in the past. I thought you didn't want to be the Warner sister anymore? I thought that was what that stupid row was about in the first place."

"Don't start talking down to me like that, Graham, you have no right!" There was an ominous growl in Dot's voice, and Gabby felt Todd tense in her arms. She hugged him, not able to tear her eyes away from the kitchen door, as she felt Todd rest his nose on her arm.

"Let me guess, I wasn't there, I didn't have the troubled Warner past... try writing your autobiography, then maybe someone will care. You know, if you and your brothers were messed up kids, I wouldn't have a problem, but I wish you could have told me before you passed those genes on to Todd!"

Gabby held her breath, clutching Todd tighter. She didn't know exactly what he had meant, but the tone made it obvious it was meant to be an insult. There was a long, silent pause. Dot's voice was quieter, but just as forceful.

"Get out." There was another pause, in which Todd gripped Gabby's arm tighter.

"Dot... I didn't..."

"Get out!" Dot fully shouted the last bit, and as the kitchen door flew open, Todd scrambled to his feet and ran back towards the play room. Gabby looked up, shocked as the spell was broken, and stood up to follow him. She looked back over her shoulder, though, and saw her Uncle Graham squeezing his feet into sneakers, and grabbing a jacket. He was muttering something under his breath, and shooting sour looks towards the kitchen, where she could just see Dot standing in the doorway. They were talking, much quieter, but they were still very angry. Gabby shrunk back towards the play room, knowing that it would be best to go down ten counts after the door slammed. She walked into the playroom, and saw Todd, hugging his knees to his chest, his baggy coat covered over his head, and Archibald the horse smiling reassuringly above him. Gabby knelt down in front of him, lifting up the end of his coat so she could see his face. He sniffed, and turned away.

"It's nasty Todd." She crawled beside him, and sat down cross-legged, resting her head on Archibald's saddle. "I know. Its' worse when they argue after you go to bed though. You can't decide if you listen or not then. You just have to lie there and try to think of something else."

The door slammed, and Gabby closed her eyes. She and Todd huddled closer together, as he pulled his coat off his head.

"It wasn't so bad though." Gabby croaked, her voice reverting back to the hoarse whisper it had been when he had first met her. Todd hadn't realised just how confident she had gotten, until now. He leant his head on her shoulder. "Mommy and Daddy one time had an argument where she flushed his phone down the toilet." Todd sniffed again, and looked up at Gabby, an eyebrow raised. She gave a choked giggle, and shrugged. "I still don't know why." Gabby looked down at Todd, who held his throat, looking pained.

"You don't have to talk about it." Gabby whispered. "A lot of adults say you have to talk about it, but if you don't want to then it doesn't matter. They just think they're being clever." Gabby smiled, standing up and holding her hand out for Todd. "We have to cheer your Mommy up now. If we make a lot of noise going downstairs then she'll start talking about us and won't be thinking so much about it." Gabby smiled, and Todd smiled back, glad to have his cousin here. He loved her and Abbi very much, and he felt it would be a lot easier for everyone now they all had each other to be friends with. He ran after Gabby as they both began to stampede towards the stairs, hoping to be a distraction. A couple of arguments don't mean anything, anyway. After all, they'd all argued in the playground, and they were still friends.

The next day, Abbi lay on her stomach on the grass of the playground, her bag in front of her nose. She smiled with pride as she looked down at the card she had made in Arts and Crafts. Rolling onto her back, she closed her eyes as the sun warmed her skin, and she clutched the card close to her chest. A shadow fell over her face, and she opened one eye, expecting to see Todd, back from his chat with the school nurse, or Gabby back from the restroom, but instead she looked up into the jowly, fine-haired face of Junior.

"What do you want, meat-head?"

"Oh come on Abbi, I said I was sorry..." Junior kicked his feet, looking at her sheepishly. "I didn't want to be mean or anything..." His eyes fell on the card, made of vibrant red and blue craft paper and with gratuitous blobs of silver glitter, which rested on her chest. "What's that?" He pointed to the card, and Abbi clutched it tighter to her.

"It's a card for my mom." Abbi allowed herself a proud smile. "She's going to have a baby, and I made her and Daddy a card to wish them good luck so the stork comes."

"What stork?"

"The stork that brings the babies." Abbi rolled her eyes. "Duh."

"That's not where babies come from." Junior laughed, puffing out his chest. "My big sister told me all about where babies come from when my Mom was pregnant with Chip. You wanna ask your mum to tell you, it's _gross!_" He wrinkled his nose, before shrugging and turning to walk away. "Oh well, I'm sorry about your mom. See you, Abbi."

"What do you mean, "sorry"?" Abbi sat up, her eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"Well, once a baby comes along, your parents aren't going to care much about you."

"That's not true." Abbi scrambled to her feet, scowling at him. He held his hands up.

"I'm not trying to fight, it's the truth!" Junior looked at her, with disarming sincerity. "Babies take up all their time, and always end up screaming and smelling. I know." He said, defiantly, before whispering conspiratorially. "It's what happened to me with Chip, and Lulu said it happened to her when Mom was pregnant with me."

"Well... I don't believe you." Abbi stuck her nose in the air. "Your sister's lied tons before, and you're a bully."

"Only 'cos everyone makes me feel bad." Junior snapped, but he looked more sad than angry. "Fine, find out on your own. I was just trying to warn you." He shoved his hands in his pockets and skulked away, under Abbi's glare. She unzipped her jacket, put her card inside and zipped it up again, all the way to her chin. She sat on the ground and crossed her legs, leaning on her hands. She fumed quietly as she saw Junior walking across the playground. She felt a little bad for being angry at Junior, since she knew his parents had been ignoring him a bit since he got a baby brother, but he had no right to try and make her worried about her parents doing the same thing. Her parents loved her. They weren't going to start ignoring her now, just because they were having a baby... right?

"Boo!" Abbi gasped as Gabby appeared behind her, giggling. Gabby looked at her, head cocked to one side, her ears perked up. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just Junior bugging me again."

"Oh." Gabby sighed, sitting down next to her. "He's stupid, dad says we should just ignore him. Or be witty, except he said that takes a while to learn."

"Can't we just hit him with a big mallet?" Abbi smiled wickedly.

"We don't learn that 'til next year." Gabby grinned back, "But we are learning how to make and throw pies when we come back after spring break."

"I wish I knew how to do all the Toons Skills. Right now, so we could have our own cartoon like our dads did."

"Yeah... but then we'd miss the lessons, which are a lot of fun." Gabby nodded sagely, looking around. "Oh, here's Todd!"

As Todd ran towards them, Abbi laughed and pulled faces, falling over as he tackled and hugged her. As they diverged into Horseplay, and Gabby sat back, giggling and telling stories, Abbi let her worries about Junior and the new baby slip away to the back of her mind. Even when the bell shrieked through their giggles and the kids all trudged dutifully back to their lessons, Abbi focused more on her work than usual. But, at the end of the day, when she saw her parents waiting for her outside the school gates, Junior's comments still hadn't gone completely from her mind. She spread a smile across her face and hugged her Dad tightly, unzipping her jacket and giving her Mom the card. It wasn't a real smile, it was a smile that hurt her cheeks, and made her stomach tense. She kept telling herself that Junior was wrong, but it didn't keep her from thinking about it.


	16. Here we go loop de loo

To start off with, I'm so sorry to everyone who was reading this fic that I left it so long to update. Stuff just kept getting in the way. But, here's an uber-long chapter that will hopefully make up for it. Sorry, again

Abbi lay on her back, the stretched and faded fabric of the old Tommy Hilfiger t-shirt warm and soft against her fur. The creamy pink shadows of the bed-sheet over her head were unperturbed by the morning light.

"Abbi, you need to get up." Her mom's voice drifted from the doorway, over spikes of annoyance. "Uncle Yakko wants us to help decorate the hall before the party. And... Wear something nice, would you?"

Anyone would think she'd been asked a million times, but that was the first time her mom had spoken to her that morning. Her mother always sounded like that now. Tired. Annoyed. Abbi wouldn't mind so much, (after all, her dad had explained that getting ready for the baby meant mom would be irritable and in need of extra help) but she never seemed to do anything right lately. Junior's words kept bouncing around her brain like a big red dodgeball, making her angry and upset. Of course, he wasn't right.

Junior wasn't clever. He wasn't a Warner. He didn't know anything.

She hoped.

"Abbi!" Her mother snapped again. Abbi didn't jump. She just sighed and kicked off the sheet as her mother insisted she get up.

Across town, Gabby and Yakko sat at the tall glass table, she with a breakfast of sugar coated cornflakes and orange juice, and he with toast, coffee and a newspaper. She smiled cheerily as she wolfed down her cereal, but would occasionally look up to see her dad's tail twitching, his eyes not focusing on the paper.

"Dad?" She smiled, but was put on edge by how nervous he was.

"Mm?" Yakko's head snapped up, blinking as he bumped into the present, feigning a casual tone.

"Are you... ok?"

"What... yeah. I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

Gabby raised her eyebrows and looked pointedly at her dad's tail, flicking and twitching irrationally, and then gave him a level stare. Yakko chuckled slightly at being caught out, the serious expression on her child-like features making her seem too adorable.

"I can't put much past you, can I?"

"Nope." Gabby smiled, proudly. "Mrs Slappy told me I was a smart cookie." She stuck her chin out, and rested her spoon neatly against the edge of her placemat. Yakko looked down at her with pleasant surprise. He couldn't believe how confident she'd gotten. Sure, she probably wouldn't be standing on stage any time soon, but he was ok with that. He just wanted to see her happy, and since she'd befriended her cousins, she'd gone from strength to strength. And, he reasoned, if his seven year old daughter could do it...

"Actually, Gab, could I tell you a secret?"

She nodded, leaning forward, her brow laced with concern.

"I'm a little nervous." Yakko continued, feeling slightly embarrassed. "I haven't performed anything in person for years, and this is so important to Slappy. I'm worried, and I really want this to go right."

"You're... nervous?" Gabby repeated, trying to make sense of the sentiment, trying to make it work in her mind. Her dad didn't get nervous. He was too cool for that. He made jokes and sang and told stories, and wasn't afraid of anyone or anything. "Well you shouldn't be." She stammered, seeing a look of worry in his eyes, feeling she had to say something. "You're the best piano player I know, along with uncle Wakko."

Yakko chuckled. "Gabby, just how many piano players do you know?"

She blushed a little, her tail twitching. "That's not the point." She hopped down from her chair and walked around to him, holding her arms up. Obligingly, he lifted her into his lap. "Mrs Slappy said she thought of us as her family, and that means she'll love you even if you mess up, because you tried."

"You think so?"

"Well that's what you say to me, isn't it? When I get worried about doing something wrong, you say `Gabby, you're my little girl and if you do your best, that's all I can ask`. No matter what." She was looking down at her fingers, fumbling and nervous again, yet when she finished her sentence, she looked up at her father, straight into his eyes, and had such a gentle expression of calm determination, Yakko couldn't help but smile. Her brow was set, her eyes light but firm, and slightly covered by her scruffy fringe, her lips forming a steadfast pout over the front of her teeth. He felt a rush of pride.

"You're right, kiddo. Glad to know at least one of us has been listening to what I've said." Of course, it wasn't all that simple. There was the matter of Babs and Buster, and the sensation of his stomach being crunched up like cans in a garbage disposal he felt every time he thought about seeing them together. There was his advising a panicking Wakko about a hormonal Tellulah, and his worries about Dot and Graham. Still, from the mouths of babes...

"Thanks, Gabs." He hugged her, before setting her back down in her chair. "Now eat up, or we're going to be late."

Todd stood at the foot of the stairs, tugging at the hem of his black T-shirt. He had been bribed, begged and threatened, but eventually his mother had convinced him to hand over his Harpo coat and let it be washed. He wasn't happy, but he supposed Slappy would prefer it if he looked smart for her party, and he did want her to be happy.

"Here we go." Dot smiled, her voice breathy and light as she walked down the stairs, examining the old coat. "Nice and clean." She smiled boldly as Todd held up his arms and struggled into his coat, before flinging his arms around her in a hug. He stepped back, curious, and looked back up the stairs.

"No, sweetie." Dot sniffed, the smile remaining on her face but somehow seeming less real. "I don't think your dad will be coming with us. Come on." She flashed another smile and reached down for Todd's hand, never quite looking him in the eye. This time, he could see the fur around her eyes. It was slightly damp, pressed down over pink skin. Had she been crying? Todd smiled again and hugged her tighter, wishing he knew what to do to make her happy. He let himself be walked over to the car, lifted up and buckled in, trying not to think about it. He tried to focus on the party and remember the songs and dances he would be in, but it was hard. They weren't even arguing now. Well, not outright. They were never in the same room as each other long enough for that. When they did speak, which wasn't often, it was cold and curt. He felt so... small. Useless. He didn't know, didn't understand. He could do schoolwork as well as children almost twice his age, but he understood emotions as well as any other four year old. Sometimes he worried if it was his fault. He had heard his parents arguing, and heard his name mentioned... they both seemed to treat him as normal when they were on their own, but when they were together, he couldn't help feeling like they were fighting over him. He was just so confused by it all, that for once he wasn't being silent out of choice. He really had no idea what he could say. What he didn't know was that Dot was feeling just as confused.

The hall was a large rectangle of linoleum and cream walls, with long, communal dining tables folded and tucked away in the corner. It had taken all morning and a lot of favours, but now it stood filled with circular tables seating four each, colourful tablecloths, glittery banners and shiny balloons. The piano and the small raised stage at the end of the room were well lit, and patiently waiting for the party. The children, however, were not. Todd and Gabby played hide and seek backstage, trying not to listen as Abbi was buried under her mother's angry words.

"For the last time, Abbi. How hard is it to keep a dress on and keep clean?"

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean..."

"Of course not. You never `mean` to. Honestly, Abigail, isn't it time you stopped being such a baby?"

"Wish I was." Abbi mumbled stubbornly into her sleeve, staring hard at the cushioned linoleum, but she was covered by her father speaking simultaneously.

"Now, 'Lu, take it easy." His voice was wary, drifting over from his vantage point by the piano. "Accidents happen."

"Oh, that's easy for you to say, isn't it?" She snapped, her eyes flashing as she tossed back her hair, her luxurious curls of black hair shimmering in the halogen light. Abbi would never admit it, but her mom was scary when she was angry. As if reading her thoughts, Tellulah's gaze snapped to Abbi, her lips thin and tight. "What was that?"

"I said I wish..." Abbi began, before trailing off into incoherent mumblings. Tellulah stepped towards her.

"What?"

"I said I wish I was a baby!" Abbi spat, her voice choked with tears. "'Cos maybe then everything wouldn't be my fault and you wouldn't be all angry and I wouldn't have to live with that." She pointed at her mother's stomach before stumbling quickly from the room, the quick "pup-up-up" of her paws on the lino the only sound cutting through the shocked silence. Tellulah stared after her daughter for a moment, before sitting down heavily on one of the chairs, putting her hands over her eyes, and counting quietly to herself. Wakko shifted, looking from Tellulah to the door, caught between a rock and a hormonal cat-toon. He looked imploringly to his brother, who had been keeping his head down at the piano stool. Yakko shot him a sly smile, standing quietly.

"I'll go talk to Abbi. You go reign in the kids."

The courtyard garden was alive with an early spring, the unseasonal sun bursting through the gaps in the leaves of Slappy's old oak tree, dappling the lawn, the walls and, Yakko observed, pretty much everything. Except, that is, for a little ball of black fur, wrapped up in a slightly damp blue dress, which sat entirely in the shade, curled up against the dusty tree trunk. Yakko smiled softly as visions of similar experiences flashed through his mind; the relative and setting changed, but the general feeling of the experience remained. Big Brother moments.

He sat down next to Abbi's puppyish form, looking out across the bright flowers of the garden.

"Hey." He spoke quietly, but calmly. Abbi sniffed, and curled up smaller.

"Oh, I agree." Yakko continued, smiling. "You think I don't know? I've been through the Sibling Dread twice."

Abbi was silent for a moment, before sniffing again and sitting up, The white fur around her face was damp and grubby with tears, and her nose was more red than pink, a true Warner tomato.

"It's not... really... my fault, is it?" she mumbled, her brow furrowed and her eyes fogged with confusion. Yakko put an arm around her and rested his chin on her head.

"Of course not. The juice'll wash right out."

"It's just..." She sniffed, her gaze focused on some far away point, her eyes beginning to well with fresh tears, "what if, 'cos babies need a lot of care and attention and stuff, and I know that it'll need more looking after than me so what if they like looking after it more, 'cos everyone loves babies, and..." the tears overflowed with her words, causing Yakko to sweep her into a hug, stroking the back of her head.

"Hush-sh-sh.. now, you listen to your uncle Yakk." He soothed, patting her on the back. "Every time a kid's about to get a little sibling, they always get worried that something's gonna go wrong. It's natural. I had it, your Dad had it, Your Aunt Babs has a hilarious story about her eldest brother, Rizz, and how he went through it 15 times."

"Really?" Abbi sniffed, looking up at him with unusually meek eyes.

"Yeah, ask her to tell you some time. But... ehhhh... best wait 'til you're a little older actually."

"But... you were scared too?"

"Terrified." Yakko chuckled. "Both times. But look at us now. Hey, look at the show. My sibs are my closest friends, and I wouldn't trade them for the world. Sure, we've squabbled, but that's just normal. You know something?"

"What?" Abbi choked, her clumsy, gloved fingers wiping tears from her eyes, her tail twitching.

"It may not always feel like it, but you're gonna love this little sib just like you love Gabby and Todd. You'll make a brilliant big sister, I know you will. And any time you want to talk to someone other than your parents, you know you can talk to me." Yakko lifted her up above his head, before bringing her in for a hug and pressing his nose against his, making her giggle. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"And your Aunt Dot, and Slappy, and even your Aunt Babs."

"I know." She sniffed. And then, "Thanks".

"It'll be fine. Don't mention it. You ready to go back inside?"

Abbi paused a while, her tail slowly calming from an agitated twitch to a thoughtful swish.

"Can we stay here a bit?"

"Sure." He smiled, leaning back against the warm, sun-dappled oak, resting a hand on her back as she hugged his knee like a pillow. He let the wind tickle and ruffle his ears, whilst the sun made his skin prickle beneath his fur, watching as her chest rose and fell, her breathing slowing as she gently let herself calm down. He looked down at the fronds of black fur, the long, slender tail, and the big yet graceful white feet poking out under her dress. She was just like Dot.

Wakko snooped around backstage, trying to track down his erstwhile nephew. Gabby had been found and already gone obediently with Tellulah across the street to get some ice creams. Todd, however, was being decidedly evasive.

"C'mon, Todd... come out." Wakko whined, getting tired of looking. He never had been any good at hide and seek. Todd, however, was a master, and was thus very proud when he leapt from his corner behind the curtains and made his uncle jump a foot backwards in shock.

"You rat." Wakko smiled, shaking his head. "Come on, let's go get some ice cream." Todd grinned, but then froze. Wakko raised an eyebrow, noticing Todd's ears had perked up. He did likewise, and though his hearing wasn't as good as his nephew's, he could certainly hear something. Feet padding around thee lino. Dot humming. Why was Todd so tense about that? Dot had been in and out all day, fetching various things, running errands, checking on Slappy. That wasn't... He looked at Todd, who was stood quietly now, a far-away look in his eyes as he strained to hear what was going on. Wakko perked his ears up again, wondering if he'd missed something. Sure enough, there was a second set of footsteps, tapping irritably.

"Dot." Graham's voice was weary, but not pleading. Dot stopped humming.

"I'm not going to argue with you today. This is Slappy's day."

"I see. So she's more entitled to your time than I am, is that it?"

There was a silence. Wakko could imagine Dot's face, and couldn't help but grimace. She'd always had the amazing ability to cut men down with just a simple raising of the eyebrow. She knew exactly the most effective configurations of her facial features. It was like a superpower. As Dot's voice crept back to them, a deadly whisper that rose with strength and indignation, Wakko moved slowly and quietly to Todd, crouching down beside him as he trembled, his tail between his legs.

"How... dare you. I spend a few weeks preparing a birthday party for a friend I've known since I was six years old, and you have the... you think you have the right to stand there, look me in the eye and tell me that my priorities are wrong?"

"I didn't say..."

"After you've spent more of the last seven months with your agent than you have with me, you dare to come in here and give me this crap that you feel unloved?"

Wakko cringed. It was still weird hearing Dot cuss.

"I've got news for you, Graham." Dot continued, her voice dropping back to a deadly hiss, like a wildcat coiled and ready to claw at the jugular. "You have no right to any of my time. You expect me to be there waiting for you, the prim and proper fifties housewife you write your damn plays about. Well you know what? There's a play I like more than yours. It's the staple of feminist drama. Do you know `A Doll's House`?"

"Dot..."

"Do you know it?"

Silence. Dot's voice was artificially bright, and sarcastically chipper. This was more scathing than if she'd screamed a tirade of abuse. It was cold and calculated. Wakko wrapped his arms around Todd, hugging as they heard Dot and Graham continued in this sterile, prepared argument. Dot was a nimble, verbal swordsman, jabbing precisely at the lumbering, unprepared Graham. He sighed. Eventually, they heard "no."

"It's about a woman who saves her husband from dying by getting a loan to take him on holiday. Rest and recuperation, you know? The problem is, at the time it was set, it was illegal for a woman to get a loan, so she forged her fathers' signature. So of course, she's now committed two crimes. She does everything she can to keep her husband from finding out but... well, I'm not going to spoil the ending for you. You should read it. I've been leafing through it quite a lot recently."

"Dot... what are you saying?"

There was a silence. Possibly the longest yet. It certainly felt like it was dragging on for ages, heavy and oppressive, as Wakko felt Todd's silent sobs shaking his body.

"I want a divorce."

"What?"

"You heard. I don't need a separation. I already know what it's like to be living without you."

One set of footsteps left the room smartly.

There was a shocked pause, before the other set scrabbled after them.

The door clicked shut.

Wakko let his ears drop, and looked down at Todd, who was biting his lip, his eyes screwed shut as big watery tears began to pool in his eyes. Wakko kneeled, so his head was the same height as Todd's, and hugged him tight. He couldn't say anything. He knew there would be nothing Todd wanted to hear. He'd been there. His parents had had similar arguments, but nothing so cool and controlled, so unemotional... He sat there, the hard boards of the stage digging into his knees, Todd's chin resting on his shoulder, silently shaking as her whimpered. Eventually, the silence lightened.

"I know it sounds hard to believe..." Wakko whispered, his own eyes closed as he hugged this miniature Warner. Maybe he saw the boy as a portal to a former self. Maybe he saw a lot of himself in Todd. But he knew exactly what he wanted to hear, because he'd wanted someone to say the same to him. "But it gets better. Grown-ups don't always know what they're doing. But I promise you, no one is going to blame you or make it your fault. They'll be hurting for a while, but it gets better. You're going to have to be strong for your mom, but we'll all be here to help her through it. I promise you."

Todd pulled away, looking into Wakko's eyes. So much expression for such a small child. Eventually, Todd sniffed, nodded, and stepped back, taking Wakko's hand. Wakko smiled, stood, and lifted Todd up onto his shoulders. Todd giggled as he was bounced up and down, the tears ebbing away. Wakko smiled too, knowing damn well that he wasn't going to let this get the better of his nephew.

Gabby had sat patiently outside the k-mart as Tellulah brought ice creams. She looked across the street to the old peoples' home, kicking her feet as they hung a few inches off the ground, leaning back on her bench. She smiled as the warm sun shone on her face, waiting quietly as instructed. Across the street, she saw Graham and Dot talking to each other, although she couldn't tell what they were talking about. They didn't look happy, though. Graham threw his hands up in the air, got into his car, and drove off. Dot watched him leave, a curious expression on her face, before turning. Gabby jumped slightly as Dot looked up, their eyes meeting. Gabby blushed furiously as her aunt crossed the street and walked towards her.

"Gabby, what are you doing out here?"

"I'm... waiting for aunt Lu..." Gabby mumbled, her eyes fixed on her toes.

"Oh?"

"She's getting us ice creams."

"Sounds nice." Dot didn't sound angry. She didn't sound upset, or embarrassed, or anything. Gabby flushed a little. She should be angry. Or upset. Or something. How could she just be normal when she was arguing with Graham all the time? They should at least look like they're trying hard to be happy, but Dot seemed quite breezy as she sat down on the bench. Gabby gulped, trying to push back her indignant blushes.

"Are you sure you don't want to perform in Slappy's show?" Gabby didn't look up, but she guessed Dot was smiling. How could she? Didn't she know what she was putting Todd through? How it felt to sit there and hear your parents arguing in the other room?

"No."

Silence.

"How's school?" Distracting with small-talk. Gabby didn't move, but she wanted to. She wanted to skulk off in a huff, or argue back, or say all the rude words she could think of. But she couldn't.

"Fine."

More silence. Gabby could feel it all boiling up inside of her; all the anger, the fear, the frustration that she thought had gone away. It was twisting and writing and knotting up in her stomach like she'd swallowed a nest of snakes. Her breath came short and sharp as she felt the wobbly tickle, oh-so-familiar, pricking at the corners of her eyes

"Gabby, is everything..."

"Why aren't you angry?" Gabby blurted, suddenly torn between clamming up and hoping Dot hadn't heard, and jumping up and kicking things. The jumping urge won out.

"What?"

"You should be angry!" Gabby yelled, an indignant squeak in her voice. Dot was clearly taken aback, her mouth open and uncertainty in her eyes. Well, good. She deserved it. "You should be upset and angry and miserable!"

"Gabby..."

"No. You don't know how it feels, how I... how Todd feels. When grown-ups try and take the problem away, we still have to deal with it. We sit there, listening to both of you telling each other not to yell. You think we can't hear it? Or, or, or see how you glare at each other or stuff like that? It's not fair at all!"

"It's not easy on anyone, Gabby." Dot riled. "And I don't expect to be spoken to like that."

"Well you should be!" Gabby squeaked again, the unrelenting flow of pent-up frustration blocking out her usual timid nature. "If everyone's unhappy then it's fair because we're all in it together. But if you pretend that it doesn't bother you..."

"It. Doesn't." Dot spoke firmly, locking eyes with Gabby. Gabby faltered, thrown by this statement.

"How..." Dot looked away, a similarly confused look in her eyes. Gabby slumped slightly, standing in shock. "How can you say that? It's... it's a bad thing..."

"Not... not always." Dot shifted, before holding her arms out to Gabby, who approached with care.

"When it comes to me and Graham, we need some space. Divor... separation... isn't always a good idea, but sometimes it works the best. Look, I... maybe you should be talking to your Dad about this..."

"No!" Gabby squeaked, panic in her eyes. "You can't tell him."

"Why not?"

"Because, I'm supposed to be happy. I have to be happy, otherwise he'll be even more... upset."She had blurted it out, suddenly feeling very small again. Dot's eyes gleamed as she swept her niece up into a hug. She opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of it. For a moment, this is all they needed. Eventually, she smiled.

"Tell you what. You can help me make sure Todd's happy, and I can help you make sure your dad's happy. Deal?"

Gabby sniffed, eventually nodding. They hugged tighter, both feeling the kind of closure that they hadn't realised they needed.

After a moment, Tellulah left the shop, smiling again. She raised an eyebrow at Dot, who gave a silent grimace, implying it was better not to ask. Tellulah nodded, handing Gabby one of the ice creams.

"Come on; let's get back to the rehearsals. I have a fair few people to apologise to." Gabby smiled as she licked happily at the strawberry lolly. It was an odd feeling, knowing she had that kind of strength in side of her. Those words. She wasn't much of a fighter, and she was still bad at PE. But she could stick up for herself. She knew that now.


End file.
